Every Night Is Another Story
by CherryCrush23
Summary: Nathan Scott and Haley James are two of the best spies in the business. They can take out any one at any time. When they’re assigned by both of their bosses to take each other out, things become complicated for these two assassins.
1. Real Life 007

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters**

**Summary: Nathan Scott and Haley James are two of the best spies in the business. They can take out any one at any time. When they're assigned by both of their bosses to take each other out, things become complicated for these two assassins.**

**AN: i would have had this up like yesterday... but my computer was being stupid and not uploading this on ff for some reason but now it is so hopefully i get a lot of reviews for this!**

**Chapter 1: Real Life 007**

The hot spray from the faucet poured down on to Nathan Scott's beat up body. The bruises began to sting when the water hit them. He was used to getting bruises by now. He came to expect that it would happen no matter what he was doing. Nathan Scott was a spy, an assassin, a real world 007 and he put his life on the line everyday. He worked for his dad, Dan Scott. That man had more targets on him than anyone. He also put many hits on people. It was Nathan's job to take them out. He was in charge of protecting his father and his family. That was his job and he was good at it.

He didn't care if he got hurt doing it. He didn't really feel the pain anymore. He'd been trained for this job since he was young. Nothing could really hurt him. He'd taken bullets and they were nothing anymore. He'd been knocked out of windows, thrown from moving cars and much more and nothing hurt him. It was pretty much all part of a regular day. Just like an everyday occurrence.

But he couldn't deny the fact that his job came with perks. Like the blonde Australian girl sleeping in his bed right now. That's where he was for the weekend. "On business," he told everyone. Everywhere he went, girls threw themselves at him. He didn't know if it was because of the shiny car he drove or the expensive watch he wore or what it was. Girls were attracted to him like a moth to a flame. And he wasn't complaining about it either.

He turned the faucet off and grabbed a towel from the bar next to the shower. He stepped out of the steam filled cubicle and back towards his room. He saw the girl still sleeping and he wasn't surprised. He grabbed his bag from off the floor and put it on a chair next to the bed and pulled out a pair of black boxers and jeans and slipped them on. He also put on a gray t-shirt. He ran his hand through his some what damp hair and looked around the room to make sure that he had all of his belongings.

"What are you doing?" he heard the blonde haired girl ask him. He turned and saw her sitting in bed holding the sheet to her chest. "I have to leave. Just feel free to leave whenever you're ready."

"Just like that?" she asked, "you're just leaving."

"You didn't think this was going to be anything serious did you?"

She scoffed and sat back against the pillows and watched him walk towards the door. "Are you at least going to tell me your Name?" she asked.

"James!" he yelled back. She was never going to find out it was a lie anyways, what was the point in telling the truth.

That was the thing about Nathan. Being who he was and doing what he did made him very guarded. He never really told people who he was and he never let his walls down. The only people who truly knew him were his brother and his friend Owen. Other than that, no one really knew him. And he preferred that way. The fewer people he let in, the fewer people he had to worry about losing.

He waited in the airport for his plane to be boarded. He honestly couldn't wait to get back home. He was tired of being in Australia. He'd only been there for the weekend but that was long enough. It had been a long weekend. He told everyone that he was there for "a business trip." What kind of business, they didn't know. And no one asked. Again, he preferred it that way.

When his plane finally landed in Chicago he was so tired and just ready to go home and sleep for a few days. But he was pretty positive that that wouldn't happen. He was always busy. Always. He got his bags and went to his car that he parked in the garage at the beginning of the weekend. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and started his car. The first thing he did was call his brother Lucas. "Hey man," Lucas greeted when he answered the phone, "how was the trip back."

"Exhausting," Nathan said looking out the windows to check the traffic. He pulled his black Ferrari out into the street. He noticed the stares people in other cars and people on the sidewalk gave him as he drove by. He looked like Batman. His car was pretty bad ass and he knew it. More of the perks of doing what he did. He had a feeling it wouldn't get old any time soon.

"I bet. So I'm assuming you got the job done?" Lucas said and picked up his 1 year old daughter off the floor. He was married to Brooke Scott formally Brooke Davis. They had a baby girl named Angie. Lucas couldn't think of anything he loved more than his two girls.

"Don't I always," Nathan said and let out a chuckle.

"Always little brother. So I'm guessing you're off to see dad about you're next assignment."

"No, I'm too tired to go see him now. I'll just see him tomorrow. I figure whatever my next job is can wait until tomorrow morning after I've slept."

"Yeah you're right. Well listen I gotta go put Angie in bed so I'll talk to you later."

"Ok, give her a kiss for me."

"Sure thing. Later Nate."

"Bye Luke."

Nathan closed his phone and put it on the dashboard. He saw the large building where his apartment was located come into view. He couldn't think of a time when he'd been happier to see it. He pulled into the parking garage and parked in his usual space. No one ever parked there, it was his spot. He turned the car off and stepped out. He grabbed his phone before closing the door and locking it. He heard the echo of the beep through the garage. He was going to get his bags in the morning. Now, he just wanted to sleep.

He walked to the elevator that would take him to his floor. He pressed the button for his floor and waited. When it stopped he put his hand in his pocket to grab his keys. When he got into his apartment he whistled and waited for his black lab to run out to him. He ran around the corner and straight towards Nathan..

Nathan kneeled down to pet his dog. "Hey buddy," he said, "did Mrs. Reynolds take good care of you." Mrs. Reynolds was the women who lived next door to him with her husband. She was in her late 50s and she always took care of things in his apartment when he was gone. "Alright Max," Nathan said to the dog, "lets feed you." He walked into the kitchen and grabbed the bag of dog food out of a low cupboard. He poured it into the bowl and watched Max eat it all within about 2 minutes.

"Damn," Nathan said, "no wonder you're such a huge dog." He laughed and stroked Max's nose before walking into his room. He grabbed a pair of plaid pajama pants out of his drawer and pulled off his t-shirt and jeans and slipped on the pajama pants. He heard a knock on his door. He groaned and went towards the door. He looked out the peep hole but didn't see anyone. He opened the door and used his leg to block Max from running out the door. He saw a large envelop on the floor and he bent down to pick it up.

He turned it over and saw that it read, _Your Next Assignment._

He shut the door behind him and walked back towards the kitchen. He put the envelop on the counter and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. "What now?" he asked and opened the envelop. He shook it and pictures fell out along with a few pieces of paper. He picked up the pictures and saw a girl with long blonde hair in a pair of jeans and a leather jacket.

In the pictures she walked down the street with a guy next to her. He didn't know who she was but looking at her pictures, he knew one thing for sure, she was beautiful. He picked up a sheet of paper and read her name off of it. Haley James. She didn't look all that threatening from her pictures. But he'd learned that even the most innocent of people, have a dark side. He knew this girl was going to be no different.

Deciding that he was too tired to look at the information right now, he set the pictures and the paper on the counter and turned the lights off. He walked into his room and collapsed on his bed and let sleep quickly take over his body.

* * *

In the morning Nathan woke up and got ready to go see his dad. He dressed in a pair of jeans and light blue button up. He didn't think he really needed to dress like it was a formal occasion. Most of the people who worked for his dad did that. They dressed in their best suits and made sure they looked perfect each time they went to see him. Nathan just dressed like he usually would.

He drove down the large office building where his dad would be. When he walked in the building he saw Rachel Gatina sitting at her desk in the front. She was the secretary there. "Good morning Mr. Scott," she greeted him with a smile on her face. Nathan knew she liked him. It wasn't like she was good at hiding it. "Morning Rachel," he said and leaned against the desk, "how many times have I told you, call me Nathan," he said with his charming smirk. She bit her bottom lip and smiled, "sorry about that," she said, "Nathan from now on."

He winked and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before walking towards the elevators. He wasn't surprised that he had that effect on her. He had that effect on a lot of women. When he got off on the top floor where his dad's office was he saw Peyton Sawyer about to get on the elevator.

"I'm assuming this is from you," he said and held up the envelop he got the night before. She nodded, "yeah. Well technically from your dad, I just dropped it off."

"Well why didn't you wait for me to answer the door?" he said, "you could have come in."

"Yeah right Scott. Now go see your dad before he freaks out."

Nathan smiled and walked out of the elevator as she walked in. He'd known Peyton his whole life. She was the only girl he was friends with. She never bought into his bull shit and he like that. He never thought of her as anything but a friend even though he didn't always act like it. She knew that he was kidding. That's just the type of relationship they had.

Nathan walked to his dad's office and knocked on the door. He heard a 'come in' from the other side and opened the door to see his father sitting at his desk with the computer in front of him. "Hey dad."

**Ok another start of a story with a really short beginning chapter just cuz I want 2 know what you all think about this idea. Plz review and let me know, it would be greatly appreciated!!! (:**


	2. Taking Out The Best

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters**

**Thanks a ton for the great reviews on the first chapter! I re-read them and they're really making my day! I'm kinda sick right now and I have a fever and it pretty much sucks so I'm hoping that writing will make me feel better. And great reviews will definitely make me feel better too.**

**Also what happens with Nathan is only happening like an hour after what happens with Haley. So when he talks to his dad it's only about an hour after she's talked to her boss. So I hope that's not confusing. If y'all have any questions let me know! =)**

**Chapter 2: Taking Out The Best**

Haley James walked into the large bathroom that was just down the hall from her room. The tile floor was black and white and the tile in the shower was black white and red. She wore a pair of black shorts with a dark blue tank top. When she walked into the bathroom she pulled her long blonde hair into a messy bun on the top of her head. It was hard for her to not notice the dark purple blotches on her arms and shoulders.

They didn't hurt anymore. She lightly ran her fingers over the bruises and then looked away from her arms in the mirror. Haley turned on the sink and ran her toothbrush under the spray. She also put her cinnamon toothpaste on the brush. She spent about 3 minutes brushing her teeth making sure she got every inch possible. She was a neat freak and she wasn't afraid to admit it.

Her best friend Jake would usually make fun of her for it. Whenever he came over to her apartment he would purposely move things around in her room or bathroom because he knew it wasn't how she wanted it. It made her so frustrated but she knew he did it to bug her. She finished getting ready in the bathroom and walked back into her room. She put on a dark pair of YMI jeans with a pair of black boots. She walked to her closet and pulled out a green tank and a green and white striped sweater. She put them on over a black bra and went back to the bathroom to do her make up and hair.

After she finished that she walked towards the door and outside to the elevator. Jake was waiting for her outside. She got in the elevator and pressed the button for the lobby. On the way down she made sure that her phone was in her pocket and checked her purse for her keys. When the door opened she walked out and saw Jake standing on the sidewalk outside the door. No surprise his phone was attached to his ear.

She smiled at the doorman when she walked out. "See ya later Miss James."

"Bye Aaron," she smiled again and walked over to where Jake was standing while talking on his phone. "OK," he said and nodded, "alright, I get it. Yeah, I'll tell her. Ok bye." He closed his phone and put it back in his pocket. "That was Whitey," Jake said, "my dad wants to talk to you. He made sure that Whitey let me know."

"What does your dad need to talk to me about?" Haley asked while taking a Starbucks cup out of Jake's hand. "Thanks," she said. Every morning when she met up with Jake he brought her coffee. She knew there was a reason she kept him around.

"I guess he has a new case for you," he said and took a sip of his own coffee.

Haley had been working for Andrew Jagelski since she was 19 years old and now that she was 22 she had more experience than people who had been working for him for 20 years. She had been well trained and she was one of his best agents. He came to her whenever he had a tough case. He came to her with pretty much any case. She was the most dependable. She always got the job done.

"Do you know what it is?" Haley asked and turned her head to look at Jake. He shook his head, "he never tells me the cases. You always do."

"Why wouldn't he tell you? You're just as good an agent as I am."

"Ha," he said, "you give me way to much credit. Yeah Hales, I'm good," he said and smiled, "but you're better and you know it. My dad goes to you for every case, you know why? Because you're the best we have."

"I am pretty good aren't I?" She smiled and nudged him with her elbow in the side. "But he's you're dad. He doesn't tell you anything about the cases? Not ever?"

"He does every once in awhile, but not that much. And I don't know anything about this case."

Haley shrugged, "alright. Well lets get down there I wanna know what he's got planned."

* * *

Haley and Jake walked into Andrew's office and saw him sitting at his desk with stacks of papers in front of him. "Hey Mr. Jagelski," Haley said and walked over to sit in one of the chairs. Jake also walked in with her and took a seat next to Haley. "Hello Haley," Andrew said and looked up, "Jake," he said and greeted his son.

"Hi dad."

Andrew grabbed a file of his desk and handed it to Haley. When she opened it she saw pictures of two men in it. One of the men was older and he wore a black suit with a red tie. His hair was dark brown and he was some what tall. The man in the other picture was noticeably younger. He looked to be about 23 while the other man was in his 50s. The younger man was tall. He was probably around 6 feet maybe a few inches over.

His hair was a dark raven color and he had strong features. He wore a red t-shirt with a black pull over jacket over it with a pair of jeans. She also noticed the expensive watch on his wrist. "Who are they?" Haley asked and looked back at Andrew.

"Dan and Nathan Scott. Dan put out a hit on me about a week ago. The only way to stop him is to take him about before he gets the chance."

"What about the younger one? His son I'm guessing. Why do we have to take care of him."

"Nathan Scott is one of the best agents he has and if we take out Dan Scott, we need to take out Nathan too. That's why I'm going to you with this. You're the best I've got and if anyone can take them out. It's you. What I would suggest doing, is taking out Nathan first. That leaves it open for your attack on Dan."

"Where are they?"

"Right here in Chicago. But I'm sending you to Venice to finish the West drug case."

"If they're right here in Chicago how is that our paths have never crossed with them before? I wouldn't we have run in with them before now?"

It didn't make sense to her that they had never met before. She'd never even heard of Dan and Nathan Scott before. But she had been pretty pre-occupied with other cases and didn't have time for them. But not now. Now they were her case. It was her job to make sure that Andrew Jagelski was safe. Now she had to keep track of them.

"I don't know. They never put a hit on me before."

"Why would they now?"

"Because they know how dangerous we are. We are among one of the biggest units in the world. Our hit men are the best and Scott knows it. His solution is to take me out. And that may mean there's a target on you and Jake and who knows who else."

"Well you don't have to worry about it," Haley said, "I'll take care of it. Are you sure it can wait until after I come back from Italy? I mean what if I finished that case up after the Scott case."

"I'll be fine. Finish the West case."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Nathan sat across from his father listening to all of the things that he was telling him about Haley James. Because they put a hit on Andrew Jagleski, they needed to take out his best agent. That was Haley. He wasn't surprised that his dad wanted him to take out Haley first. Dan wasn't afraid of Andrew. But he was worried about his best agent. "They're here in Chicago?" Nathan said, "I can do the job tonight."

"Good," Dan said, "that's what I like to hear."

"Can you get Rachel or Peyton to get me the information like address or anywhere I could find her."

"Yeah I'll do that."

Nathan was about to stand up and leave when there came a knock on the door. "Come in," Dan yelled. Peyton walked through the door and said, "I just did a check on Haley James's credit card. She just bought a ticket to Venice leaving tonight. It looks like she's leaving town."

"Do you think she knows about the hit?" Nathan asked.

Peyton shook her head, "I don't think so. I had Rachel do some digging on her and apparently she's still on a case. There's a drug case involving a," she looked down at the paper she was holding and read the name, "Damien West. He's a big drug lord in New York and some places in Europe including Italy. They've been trying to stop him for awhile now and he's holding a party at his home in Venice. She's leaving tonight. I would suggest that we get Nathan on a flight to Venice."

Nathan turned to look at his father and Dan said, "have Rachel book him a flight leaving tonight."

* * *

Nathan stood in his room with the large flat screen turned on. He had his suitcase on his bed and he was throwing clothes into it. He really didn't know what to pack so he packed a few pairs of jeans and t-shirts. He also put in a pair of basketball shorts. He threw in his tooth brush and his razor along with shaving cream. He was pretty much ready. He didn't understand why it took girls so long to pack.

He walked into the kitchen and saw Max laying on the floor. Some how Max always knew when Nathan was leaving and he always seemed to get depressed. "Don't worry buddy," Nathan said and crouched down next to the black lab. "I'll be back soon." He grabbed the bag of dog food from the cupboard and filled up the bowl again for Max to eat.

"Ok, I'll be back soon."

He walked back into his room and turned off his TV and grabbed his iPod and laptop of the bed before walking towards the door. He walked towards the elevator and when he walked in he pushed the button for the parking garage. He saw his black Ferrari and he put his bags in the back. When he started the car he heard the roar echo through the garage. His phone rang and he picked it up of the dashboard and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Nate, it's Peyton. I just wanted to fill you in that we found out that Haley is staying at the San Cassiano hotel and we already booked you a room there. Tomorrow night is the party at West's house. I'm going to assume that you remembered to pack you're tux. If not I'm sure you can find a place to rent one. Make sure you're phone is always charged and keep your laptop in your room I'll be sending you updates to you're email. Alright I just wanted to fill you in on that. Talk to you later Nate, bye."

She hung up before he even got to say anything. He chuckled and said, "yeah, good talking to you too Peyton."

He closed his phone and put it back on the dashboard. The airport came into view and he turned into the parking lot. He parked his car and shut it off. He took out his keys so he could get his bags out of the back. He grabbed them and made his way to check his bags. Deciding that he had time he went to get a bottle of water from a shop and he also made sure that he got extra batteries for his CD player counting on the fact that his iPod wouldn't stay charged all the way to Venice.

He would be on a plane for awhile. From the flight to Chicago he would be taking a flight to New York City. He had a lay over there for about an hour and then he would board a flight taking him to London. Then he took one last flight that brought him to Italy. By the time he got there he would only have a few hours before he had to go to the party at Damien West's house. That's when he would have to meet Haley. That was when he had to finish the job.

He wasn't nervous about it. He never felt nervous about the jobs he had to do. A sense of what if I can't get this done never happened to him. He knew he was good at what he did and there was no point in pretending like he wasn't.

Nathan walked towards the gate after waiting in line for security. By now he was ready to just get on the plane and go. He was pretty sure that Haley had left earlier that day but he didn't know for sure. Looking around at the crowd waiting to board the plane, he didn't see anyone who looked like the girl in the picture. They soon started to board the plane and he waited in line to get on.

He walked down the long tunnel to get to the plane and when he stepped on the plane he knocked against the side of the plane with his hand. He didn't really know why he did it, it was always something he did. It was like a good luck keep me safe thing. He didn't really get it. He continued to walk until he got to his seat. He put his bags down on the ground under his seat and got ready for the flight to leave.

* * *

Haley stood at the counter of the San Cassiano hotel and waited for someone to come check her in. She was so tired from all of the her flights. She'd been sleeping in an upright position for hours and really all she wanted to do was shower and go to bed. But unfortunately she had a job to do.

Finally a man walked behind the counter and said something in Italian. She replied back and told him she needed a room for a few days. He smiled and then asked in Italian if she was American. "Yes," she said and smiled.

"Well then," he said with a thick Italian accent, "welcome to Venice Miss James. You're room is on the 7th floor room 22. Enjoy your stay," he said and handed her the key to her room.

"Thank you," she took the key from his hand and pulled her bag towards the elevator. She pushed the up button and the door opened. When she got to her floor she walked down a hallway and found her room. She walked in and saw that her room was very beautiful. It had a great view and she realized this was one of the places she was actually going to miss when she left.

Most places she was glad to leave. She'd been to places in Japan, Germany, Austria, Denmark, Berlin, Brazil. You name it, she's been there. Some places she stayed were really beautiful, but some were dirty and she couldn't wait to leave right from the second she got there. But this was a place she could see herself coming back to. She'd been to Italy before but she'd never been to Venice. She could see herself coming back here.

She threw her bag on her bed and then pulled off her black leather jacket. She opened up the curtains wider and opened the balcony doors. There was a light breeze that blew into the room. She walked into the bathroom and started the shower. The water poured out of the faucet and she checked the temperature. She walked back out to the room and grabbed her shampoo and conditioner along with her razor and shaving cream. She had to start getting ready for the party.

* * *

Nathan got out of the water taxi that brought him to the hotel. He was glad to finally be there. But mostly he was just glad to be off the plane. He couldn't believe how annoyed with people he got in the matter of just hours. He quickly learned all about the troubles of the relationship of the women behind him. She was talking the whole time to her friend about how her husband was never home enough. And what if hew as having an affair. That secretary at his office was pretty, what if he was cheating with her? Should she have a private investigator follow him?

Nathan really wanted to turn around and tell the women to shut the hell up because he was trying to sleep. He had a low tolerance of people sometimes. Especially people who continued to talk loudly on a flight over seas. He contained himself though and put in his iPod and turned it up to drown her out. Eventually he fell asleep to the sounds of a rap song playing.

Now he was just glad that he would have an actual bed to sleep in for the night. But instead of sleeping right now he had to get ready for some party he wasn't even supposed to be going to. He checked in at the desk and got his room. His room was on the 7th floor room 23. The man at the desk with the thick Italian accent told him to call down the front desk if he ever needed anything.

When he walked into his room the first thing he did was check the view. It was a really nice view actually. He unpacked his bag in a matter of minutes and walked into the bathroom so he could shave and get ready for the party.

Tonight was going to be the night he took out Haley James. One of the best in the business.


	3. Not Exactly Normal

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters**

**Thanks so much for the reviews on the last chapter. I'm glad that this story is getting good responses so far. I hope you guys continue to read and review and I hope you like the next chapter.**

**Coach: Hyde, do you think that when all this is over, we'll still be friends?**

**Hyde: Well my heart says no, and my head so says no… so no.**

**Chapter 3: Not Exactly Normal**

Nathan stood in front of the full length mirror in his room and adjusted his tie. He wore a black suit with a white button up shirt on under it with a gray/silver tie. He looked at himself in the mirror again and used his hand to wipe away lint from his sleeve. He was ready for the night. He didn't honestly know what to expect, but that was part of the job. It came with the territory. He never knew what to expect with each assignment he got.

Every night was another story. He was someone different every night. He was never the regular guy he was with his friends when he was on an assignment. He was used to that now. It didn't mean anything to him anymore. He was used to it. Nathan looked away from the mirror and turned around. He walked to the computer and read more information about Damien West.

He'd heard about him before. It was no secret that Damien was a drug Lord. His father had started the "business" and Damien was now the one in charge. Haley was here because it was her job to take him out. She had a job to do, just like he did. Nathan picked up the picture he had of her. He looked down at her and couldn't believe how beautiful she was. He didn't get how someone that beautiful who looked that innocent could have a job like his.

Looking at her the picture he thought about the things that would happen to her on the job. The same as the things that happened to him. He was constantly covered in bruises and he was beaten. It was hard to imagine that this girl would be covered in bruises too. It was something he didn't really want to think about. He didn't want to think that he would be doing something to hurt her.

He pushed that thought out of his head and folded the picture in half and put it in the pocket inside his jacket. He wasn't going to let himself get personally involved. It was just another job and it was nothing more. He didn't even know this girl and there was no way he was going to let what she looked like have any affect on him. It just wasn't something that could happen. It wasn't allowed and he knew that. The second he got too involved was the second he stopped doing his job.

He grabbed his room key off the dresser which was laying next to his gun. He made sure the safety was on before he put it in his pocket. No one would even know he had it. This wasn't the first time he'd snuck a weapon in somewhere. And he was sure it wasn't the last. No, definitely not the last time.

He walked out of his room and towards the elevator. He didn't know what was in store for him, but he was ready.

* * *

Haley got out of the water taxi and looked at the house that was in front of her. The house was so large but she wasn't surprised. Of course a man like Damien West would have a house like this. The house had pillars around the outside and there were many guests outside. "Haley," Damien said as he walked towards her. "I'm so glad that you came to my party." He extended his hand to her and help away from the taxi.

"Of course Damien. I wouldn't miss this for the world."

"You look beautiful tonight Haley."

She was wearing a short black dress that when it caught the light it sparkled. It tied around the neck and stopped just above the knee. She wore red high heels that were about 4 inches. Her long blonde hair was curled and left down and she had dark red lips with smoky eyes. "Thank you," she said and smiled, "now why don't you show me around the house?" she said.

She brought her hand down her thigh to adjust the garter that was there. On the outside of her thigh she had a dagger in her garter. In her bag she had a gun. She couldn't be too prepared. They walked up the large stairway on the outside of the house and got to a deck level where many guests were. She saw that most of them were talking and laughing and drinking champagne. "Would you like a drink?" he asked. Haley nodded and smiled and he grabbed two glasses of champagne off a tray.

"Cristal," he said, "it cost quite a bit to get this many bottles shipped here."

"I can imagine," Haley said and took a drink of the expensive champagne. She felt the liquid go down her throat and she took the glass away from her lips. "So Damien," she said, "what's the reason for your party?" she asked. She knew why but she couldn't let him know that. As far as he knew they were friends. That was who she played when she was around him. His friend.

"Well I just moved back here so I thought why not throw a party for my friends. You know a party to meet some new people, make more business connections."

"Of course." She knew what that meant. Looking around she could see people that she knew were only hear to buy drugs from him. They would sell it in their countries. She saw people that would be selling in Europe, America, Cuba. Anywhere, you name it. She'd been trying to bring down Damien West for awhile now and she knew his game. And she was close to bringing him down.

The two of them walked around for awhile while Haley looked at all of the guests in the party. She didn't trust anyone of them. She didn't know who they were, what they're names were but she didn't trust them. That was part of the job. Trust no one. And she was going to do that. Learning to be guarded was part of the job and she was good at it. She had a hard time even letting Jake in from time to time. He was always telling her she was hard to read and she knew it was true. But it's what she learned. It's the way she was.

"I've got to go talk with some of the other guests," Damien said, "you understand." She smiled of course she understood. "We'll talk later." She smiled and he kissed her hand and walked away to talk to some of the other guests. She walked over to the balcony and leaned against it. She watched the people at the party and turned around and looked down at the water. More guests were arriving.

One in particular caught her eyes.

He was tall and dressed in a nice suite with a silver tie. His dark hair was kept short and his skin was a lightly tanned. She'd seen him somewhere before she knew she had. She pulled out her iPhone and opened a file that she had saved on there. She looked through it and scrolled down until she got to the photos. She looked at the picture of Nathan Scott and quickly looked back at the man who was now going up the stairs. What the hell is he doing here? She didn't know that he had any connection to Damien West. In all of her investigating of Damien she'd never come across anything that said hew was connected to the Scotts.

She turned around and looked away from him. She didn't know what to think about him being here. He wasn't the one she was going after right now. One case at a time. Right now she wasn't going to worry about the fact that the next man she was supposed to kill had showed up at the party she was at. Even though it made no sense to her she wasn't going to think about it much right now.

Haley saw that Damien was talking to two men and she saw it as her time to look around his house. She walked into the large house and saw that there were a few guests in there but not many. Most were outside. She walked through the large airy house and down a long hallway. She didn't know where it was leading her but she was going to go look. There was a flight of stairs that lead up and she walked up them.

When she reached the top she saw there was a large bedroom at the top of the stairs. She looked behind her to double check that there was no one following her. She didn't see anyone and walked farther into the room. It was clean but she wasn't surprised. He wasn't home much, there was no time for him to make a mess of it. Plus there was the fact that he had about 8 house keepers to keep things in order.

There was a painting hanging on the wall and Haley walked over to it. She ran her fingers over it and around the edge and realized it would move. She pulled it and found out that it was covering up a safe on the other side. She saw that it wasn't closed completely and that had been the reason the painting moved so easily. She pulled the safe open and saw a thin black notebook inside. She looked behind her again and pulled it out. She flipped it open and looked through it. There were many names in the book.

They were all of Damien's clients. It had the names of the places they were from and the amount of drugs they would buy from him. Not only was she going to be able to get Damien she was going to be able to turn in all his clients. She pulled open her bag and dropped the notebook inside. She didn't know where in the house she was going to look and what else she was looking for.

She walked down the stairs again and walked down the hall. "Haley," Damien said when he saw her walk out of the hall. "Where did you go?" he asked.

"Oh, I was looking for the bathroom. I'm guessing it's not down this way," she said and laughed quietly.

"No," he said and smiled, "it's this way," he said and pointed down another long hallway, 4th door on the right."

"Wow Damien," she said, "this house is so large. I'm surprised that you don't have other people live here with you."

He laughed, "I do at times. That's why I have so many guest rooms."

She smiled and nodded, "well I'm gonna use the bathroom and I'll meet you outside."

"Ok," he said, "I have some people I would like you to meet."

She nodded and walked back down the hallway and to the bathroom that he'd directed her too. She walked in the room and locked the door behind her. She pulled her phone out of her bag and dialed Jake's number. "Haley?" he said, "what are you calling me for now?" he asked.

"Look," she said, "I know that it' like 6 or 7 in the morning there but I need to tell you what I found in West's house. He has a notebook of all of his clients, where they're from and what and how much they're buying from him. I mean this is huge! I mean this could bring down all his clients too."

"Ok, that's great Hales," he said a little more away now, "hold on too it and don't let it out of your site."

"Like I would Jake," she said and laughed, "look I should probably let you go I just wanted to let you know what I found."

"Ok and I'm going to go back to bed since I have be at work in two hours and someone woke me up early."

Haley laughed, "aww, I'm sorry Jake. Go back to bed I'll talk to you later."

She laughed again and put her phone back into her purse. She checked her reflection in the mirror again and decided it was time to go back out to the party. She didn't want anyone especially Damien getting suspicious of her. She walked out of the bathroom and straight into a hard chest. "Sorry," she said and regained her composure before looking up at the person she'd run into. When she looked up she instantly met a pair of dark blue eyes. She found it hard to look away from them but eventually looked away when the man said something.

"Don't worry about it," Nathan said looking at the beautiful girl in front of him. He had his hands on her hips to steady her and he still hadn't let go. She could feel heat on her skin where his hands were. It was like his touch was burning through the fabric. He couldn't stop looking into her dark brown eyes. He could see the blush painting her cheeks and she looked away from him again hoping he wouldn't notice. "You can let go now," she said, "I think I'll be alright."

Nathan smiled and let got of her hips, "right, sorry."

"No worries," she said and took a step back from him. She couldn't believe she was standing right in front of him. She wasn't even supposed to see him for awhile, at least not until she was done with this case. They were stuck in an awkward silence and she wished she knew something to say to him but she couldn't think of anything. And she was sure that nothing would be coming soon. At least nothing of interest. "Um," she said, "I should probably get back to Damien. He had someone he wanted to introduce me to."

"Right, well you wouldn't want to keep him waiting."

She smiled and nodded and turned away from him and walked away. Nathan couldn't help but check her out as she walked away. Not only was she perfect from the front, she was perfect from behind too. He shook his head hoping to get rid of that thought. He didn't know what he was thinking. Never get involved like that with a case. He was so stupid. He could have just taken her out right then but he didn't. He was too busy checking her out. He was officially an idiot. Damn her and the fact that she was gorgeous and distracting him.

Haley walked back out to the party and Damien waved her over so she could meet more of his friends. She turned her head and watched Nathan walk back down the hall and towards the party. She couldn't look away from him. He was incredibly attractive and she hated that. Damn him, why can't he be unattractive! No, no instead he had to be gorgeous of course. That was just going to make this harder. Sure she'd seen his picture before, but he was a lot better looking in person. Haley was aware of the fact that Damien was talking but she wasn't really listening. She knew she should have been but she couldn't seem to pay attention to what he said.

She finally turned and looked away from Nathan and tried to listen to what he was saying. But she could feel someone watching her. She turned her head and saw Nathan looking at her. She quickly looked away from him again but she could feel his eyes boring into her. She wished that he would just stop making her feel awkward. Then something hit her. She was an assassin damn it! She wasn't going to be made to feel this way by the guy she was supposed to kill. It just wouldn't happen.

"It seems like you have an admirer Miss James," one of the older men that Damien had introduced her to said. She would have known his name had she been paying attention, but…

She turned her head and saw Nathan still looking at her. He was now talking to a group of people she'd met earlier. She wondered what he'd been telling them about himself. Whatever it was had to be far from the truth. "I don't even know him," she told the man.

"That's Nathan Scott," he told her, "he's a nice young man I talked a little bit with him earlier. He's from Boston." _Boston huh?_ "And he works for a law firm. But he seems to be quite respectable. I don't see why you couldn't get to know him better." Haley smiled at the older man. He was really just trying to be sweet and trying to hook her up with Nathan. But he didn't know that she was going to have to kill that nice young man later.

"Oh really? Boston? I've never been there I'll have to talk to him later and see what it's like."

"Why talk later? You should just talk now," the older man said and motioned towards Nathan to come over to where they were standing and nodded politely. "Mr. Scott have you been properly introduced to Miss Haley James?"

"You know what Mr. Christians I don't think I have." Nathan stuck his hand out towards Haley and she took it in hers. "Haley James, Nathan Scott," Mr. Christians said. Haley smiled at him and said, "it's nice to meet you." When she tried to pull her hand back he was a little reluctant to let go. When he did she instantly missed the warmth of his hand.

Damien watched the interaction between the two of them and noticed there was something more. It wasn't just the fact that there was an obvious attraction but the fact that they were both extremely aware of each others movements. It was like the each expected the other to do something that needed to be stopped or watched carefully. The room fell silent and the talking of all the guests could be heard. Damien raised his hand and motioned to the band to continue playing.

They started a new fast pace song and more guests went to start dancing. "Why don't you ask this lady to dance?" Mr. Christianson asked Nathan. Nathan smiled and looked at Haley. "Would you like to dance?" Haley shrugged and smiled before taking his hand, "I don't see why not." Well in truth she saw many reasons why not but none that could really be talked about right now so she was just going to forget about that for the time being.

The two of them walked out to the dance floor with the other dancing guests. They started to move to the beat of the music and Nathan decided it was time to ask Haley some questions. "So where are you from?" he asked and grabbed her hand and twirled her away then pulled her back. "New York City," she said without hesitation. _New York City? Right._ Nathan nodded even though he knew she was lying then said, "and what do you do there?"

"I'm an event planner."

"Really?"

"Yes. And I hear you work for a law firm?" she said, "I hear lawyers lie a lot. Is that true Nathan? Do lawyers lie a lot."

"Some of them."

The two of them continued to dance their bodies moving with the rhythm of the music. He dipped her down and put his hands on her ribs before pulling her back up. When he pulled her back up her body was pressed up against his and their faces were only centimeters away from each other. Nathan's hand went to her thigh as he dipped her again. He moved his hand up higher and felt the garter on her leg and also felt the knife she had put in there.

"I didn't know that even planners needed to keep daggers in their garters."

"Well this one does," she said and quickly set her foot down on the ground. The song soon ended and she quickly walked off the dance floor away from Nathan. She didn't know what she was going to do now. No one was supposed to find that, and definitely not Nathan. No way was he going to think that was anything normal. He hurried off the dance floor and followed her outside.

"Haley, wanna explain to me you have a knife in your garter?" he said and grabbed her arm to keep her form walking. She turned around and faced him again and once again was met with his dark blue eyes. "I don't see how that's any of your business Nathan," she said and pulled her free from his grasp. He smirked and folded his arms over his chest. "Just wondering. I mean that's not exactly normal."

"Well maybe I'm not exactly normal."

"Well I was kind of getting that vibe."

She laughed mockingly and rolled her eyes. "Maybe the reason I have a knife on me," she said and took a step closer to him so they were now face to face. She put her hand and his thigh then went to his pocket and continued, "is the same reason you have a gun in your pocket."

She smirked before turning around and walking away from him once again.


	4. Nothing But Trouble

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters**

**Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. I'm glad you guys are all liking the plot. I wasn't too sure when I started it but I like it. So let me know what y'all think about this next chapter!**

**Chapter 4: Nothing But Trouble**

Nathan walked into his hotel room and slammed the door shut behind him. "Congratulations," he said to himself, "you didn't get anything done tonight because, you suck!" he chided himself. He loosened his tie and pulled it off and threw it on the floor. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and collapsed back onto his bed. He checked his emails on his black berry before calling his home number to check his voice mails. Most of them were from his father. He knew that Nathan would call to check his messages here and he would get them on his cell. Most of the messages were just him asking how he was coming on the case. The last thing Nathan wanted was to call his dad and tell him that he'd accomplished nothing.

A yelling session from his dad was really the last thing he wanted tonight. Plus the fact he knew he wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything his dad was saying. The truth was his mind was still on his mission. Well not really the fact that he was supposed to kill her. Just the fact that she was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen. And he hated that. He just couldn't stop thinking about her. He saw her every time he closed his eyes. Her smile was all he would see. Or the way she looked in that black dress and those red heels. He shook his head and laid his head back against the pillows. What was wrong with him? Why couldn't he stop thinking about her.

What made her any different from any other girl? Maybe it was the fact that she was forbidden in a way? That had to be it. He wouldn't care as much if he could have her. He was sure of it. Maybe he just needed to get her out of his system. He could sleep with her if he fulfilled his job and killed her after, right? Right. That was all he just needed to get her out of his system. Besides after he killed her there would be nothing to fantasize over. It seemed like a good plan to him. His phone rang in his hand and he looked down and saw that it was Peyton calling. He clicked the answer button and held his black berry up to his ear. "Hey Sawyer."

"How are you Scott?"

"Tired."

"Did you finish the job."

"I'm working on it."

"You're working on it? So that's a no." Peyton sat at her desk and looked through papers she had on her desk and leaned back in her chair. "Your dad wanted me to call and see how things were going. Should I tell him that you're working on it?" she asked sarcastically. "He's gonna know that means you haven't gotten anywhere yet. What do you really want me to tell him?"

"Tell him that I'll let him know when I'm coming back home."

"Which means you'll be done right? Look Nathan I'm just giving you crap because most people expect you to be done by now. I'm just wondering how much longer you'll be."

"I should be able to get the job done late tonight or tomorrow."

"Ok Nathan," Peyton said, "I just wanted to get an update. I'll talk to you later."

"Bye Peyton." Nathan pressed the end button on his phone and put it on his bed next to him. He stared up at the ceiling and sighed. He really needed to find Haley. He had limited time to sleep with her and kill her. Thinking the plan over in his head and if he really thought about it, he thought he sounded like an ass. But the truth was, he really didn't care at this point. He wanted her and he needed to kill her. It's just the way it was. There was no way that he would let what he thought about her affect his case. He wasn't like that. Maybe other people he worked with would let personal feelings affect them, but that's why he wasn't like them. He never let himself become personally attached to someone he was working against. There was no way that was going to happen.

* * *

Haley stood in the large living room in Damien's house. You could hardly call this a house. It was like a mansion, or palace, whatever you wanted call it. She looked around the room and at the paintings on the walls and the expensive furniture. She sat down on the large black leather couch and waited for Damien to come back into the room. Tonight was the night she was supposed to take him out. So far everything was going according to plan. She thought she was screwed for sure when she saw Nathan at the party. She had no idea what he was doing there and she wasn't ready for him. She wasn't going to think about that now. She had to keep her head in what she was doing now. She couldn't let herself think about Nathan Scott. Damien walked back into the living room with two glasses of champagne.

"For you," he said and handed her a glass. She took a small sip and set the glass on the table in front of her. She didn't know how many glasses of champagne she'd been handed that night that she'd only taken a small sip before putting it down somewhere and walking away. Damien sat down next to her on the couch and looked at her. She smiled and said, "the party tonight was great," she said, "really I don't know anyone who can throw a party like you can Damien." He smiled at the compliment and took a drink of his champagne and set it on the table next to her. She was wondering when Damien was going to try and get them to move to the bedroom. She knew that's how he was. Once they were in his room she would be able to finish this.

"I saw you dancing with Nathan Scott tonight," Damien said, "I didn't know you knew him."

"Just met him tonight," she said, "some of the other guests wanted us to dance together, that's all."

Damien nodded and Haley grabbed her champagne glass. She really wanted to ask how he knew Nathan, but she figured that would be odd. As far as Damien knew Nathan was just some guy that she met that night. She didn't need anyone to become suspicious. "Your house seems so much bigger with less people here," Haley said and glanced around the house. Damien nodded and watched her look around the house, "I sent my staff home for the night. They all left before most of the guests at the party did," he said. "I like to give them nights off every once in awhile."

"That's nice of you," Haley said. That made her think, no one knew that she was here. He definitely had plans for them for tonight. She had a feeling that his plans weren't exactly the same as hers. "Why don't I give you a tour?" Damien asked. Haley knew that now was when he would lead her to his bedroom. She knew how guys like him operated. She nodded and the two of them stood up and they began to walk around the house. He showed her different things in different rooms and she waited until they made it to his room. He led her up the stairs to his room and she looked around it again. "Your room is nice," she said, pretending that she hadn't seen it before.

"You like it?" he asked turning around to look at her. She smiled and nodded. Damien stuck his hand out for her to take. She placed her hand in his and the two of them walked over to the window and they looked out at the view from the window. He stood behind her while she looked out the window. She felt his hand on her neck while he pushed the hair away. She tried to not to flinch at his touch. A few seconds later she felt him kiss her neck and she did her best to not move away from him. Even though she felt uncomfortable it was part of her job. Right now she had to pretend like she liked him for him to trust her. She turned around and faced him and before she could even say anything she felt Damien's mouth on hers. She kissed him back but in her mind she was kissing Nathan.

Her eyes shot open when she realized that she was picturing Nathan. She pushed away from Damien and he looked at her with a confused look on her face. She smiled at him reassuringly and he smiled back. He grabbed her around her waist and pulled her back towards his bed. She pushed him down on the bed and stayed standing in front of him. "Turn around," she said quietly.

"Why?"

"Just, please turn around?" she asked, "I'm shy."

Damien smiled and turned around and Haley grabbed the dagger from inside her garter. He felt the weight shift on the bed and he knew she was behind him. He pushed his jacket of his shoulders and worked on unbuttoning his shirt. Haley leaned close to him with the dagger in her hand and whispered in his ear. "I'm sorry," she said. Damien turned his head slightly but didn't see the dagger in her hand. She quickly brought it up and quickly stabbed the knife into the juncture between his neck and shoulder. She pulled it back out and he fell forward and onto the ground. She got off the bed with the dagger still in her hand. She walked back down the stairs and grabbed her purse off the table where she'd left it. She opened it and grabbed a cloth out of her bag and wrapped it around the knife and dropped it back in her purse.

She walked towards the back deck and down the steps. She walked down the alleyway between his house and another building close by. She saw water taxi's not too far away and she got in one and gave them the address of her hotel. On her way she texted Jake and told him, it was done.

* * *

Nathan stood on his balcony and watched the water down below. He knew he should have been doing something to try and find Haley but he just couldn't do anything tonight. He saw a water taxi stop and saw Haley get out. She was still dressed in the same dress that she wore earlier in the night. He looked at the clock in his room and saw that it was almost 3 in the morning. He wondered what kept her out so long. He shook his head at those thoughts and watched her walk back in. Then something hit him. They were staying in the same hotel!

Nathan grabbed a sweatshirt and pulled it on over his wife beater. He searched through his bag for a pair of sweatpants and hurriedly put them on. He looked around for his shoes but couldn't seem to find them. He found one Nike next to his bed to his bed but he couldn't find the other one. Finally he found it and slipped it on. He grabbed his key off the dresser and hurried out the door. He made his way towards the elevator and saw it open and saw Haley walk out. He backed up so she wouldn't see him and watched her walk towards the hallway he was standing in. He ran back towards his room and grabbed his key out of the pocket in his sweats.

Haley walked down the hall and saw Nathan standing at the door next to her hotel room. What the hell was going on here? "Mr. Scott," Haley said getting his attention. Nathan turned and looked at her like he was totally surprised to see her. "Oh, Haley? Is it?" _Like I don't know._

"Yes. What are you doing out so late?" she asked looking him up and down.

"I could ask you the same thing," he said. She smiled and shrugged and Nathan said, "I was actually going to get a soda," he said.

Haley nodded and looked down at his hands, "where is it?" she asked.

"I forgot to grab money," he said quickly.

Haley chuckled and opened her purse and grabbed two dollars and handed it to him. "Here, on me." She grabbed her key and opened the door next to his and walked inside and shut the door. Nathan leaned forward against his door and then turned to go find a vending machine. If he was already out there and it was on her, then what the hell, why not? He walked past her door and stopped to look at it once more before going to find the vending machine.

Haley leaned back against her door after she entered her room and sighed. What was she going to do now? Could she possibly finish her other mission tonight? She could only imagine what everyone would think back in Chicago. This could really get her ahead. She walked farther into her room and searched through her bag to find her pajamas. She changed into a pair of plaid pajama shorts and a blue over size t-shirt. She sat down on the her bed and grabbed her remote and turned the TV on. She didn't know what she was trying to find considering everything was pretty much in Italian. She only knew a few things in Italian. Note enough to get her through an entire show.

She shut the TV off and sighed before leaning back against her pillows. She couldn't get her head around the fact that Nathan was in the room right next door to hers. She also couldn't stop thinking about the fact that he was really, really sexy. But she wasn't allowed to think that. Not about him. It wasn't ok. She was supposed to kill him, she couldn't be attracted to him. But she was. She couldn't deny that anymore.

She shut the light off on the lamp next to her bed and laid in the darkness. She could hear the distant sounds of the city and she knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep anytime soon. She tried to readjust her pillows and get in a comfortable position but she couldn't. All she could think about was Nathan. Nathan in the next room. She sat up in bed and let out a frustrated groan before throwing the blankets off herself and getting out of bed. She walked over to the balcony door and opened them before going to stand out on it. She grabbed the railing and looked down at the city below. "Can't sleep either?"

Haley looked up and saw Nathan standing on the balcony next to hers. _Great, this is just great._ She nodded and turned to lean back against the railing. "Nope," she said, "my minds kinda… all over the place."

"Mine too," Nathan said. "It kinda sucks, right?"

"Yeah," Haley agreed, "it really does."

The continued to stand in an awkward silence. Haley was about to tell him that she was going to try and get some sleep when Nathan spoke up breaking the silence. "How do you know Damien?" he asked. She couldn't help but notice there was a tone to his voice. It suggested that he didn't quite believe that she was really friends with Damien. And, yeah sure, ok, she obviously wasn't. She did just kill the guy. But the point was she was supposed to come off like she was friends with him. And apparently Nathan Scott didn't believe her.

"It was a friendship through mutual friends. He um, sort of knows my boss."

Nathan nodded and smiled, "who know being an event planner meant being friends with guys like Damien West."

"Well, my job is very demanding. A lot of people need me to… plan their big events."

"Right," he said. "So when do you go back to… New York?"

"Um," Haley said thinking about it. She wanted to finish the job before she left, "tomorrow. And when are you going back to _Boston?_"

"Tomorrow," he answered.

The tension between the two was so obvious. Nathan knew that she was lying, he could see it on her face. He wondered if she could tell he was lying. He had always been so good at getting people to believe whatever he wanted. "So I have a question for you Mr. Scott," Haley said after another moment of awkward silence. Nathan turned his attention back on her and waited for her to ask whatever she was going to ask. "Why did you have a gun in your pocket earlier tonight? I can't say that I really saw the need for it."

"And I can't say that I really saw the need for the dagger in your garter."

"Well a lady can never be cautious," she said, "I never know the type of people I'll run into."

Nathan nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, "well you know, the same goes for me. I never know who I'll meet. Always like to be protected."

"Well I guess that makes sense. Does working for a law firm mean you have a lot of enemies?"

"Let's just say that yes, my job does make me quite the target for some people."

"I'm sure it does," she said. She couldn't help wondering when he was going to catch on to the fact that she knew he was lying. Or if maybe he had already caught on to that fact. Either way, she knew he was lying.

The sounds off people getting off a water taxi down below broke her concentration and she looked down at the water below them. She couldn't help but envy those people. She was sure their lives were in no way near as stressful as hers. They were more carefree on their vacations unlike her who had to worry about killing people and bringing down the bad guys. It wasn't fair. But at the same time, she liked her job. It was never boring, she was always going to new places, but she never got time to just have a normal life. And dating was out of the question. She couldn't risk getting close to anyone and having them find out the sort of things she did.

And it wasn't like she was going to date Jake. He'd been her best friend her whole life. Plus she worked for his dad. That would make things a little awkward. And the other guys that worked with her, well she'd just never felt anything for them. She hardly knew any of them either. The truth was she never let herself get close to anyone. The closest person she'd ever gotten to was Jake. And that was because she knew he would never hurt her.

"You alright?" Nathan asked sincerely. She had stopped paying attention to him awhile ago which was something he didn't expect. Not after she'd been grilling him about his job. Suddenly she became interested in the people down below.

"Yes," she said, "sorry, I was just thinking."

"About what?" Nathan asked.

"Just things. Like I was thinking about those people down there," she said, "about how easy their lives must be. That they can come to Venice just because they want a vacation. I wish I was that lucky. I'm here because I have to be."

"Why do you have to be?"

"Because I-" she stopped herself from saying to much, "because it's part of my job. Who do you think organized the whole party that Damien had tonight?" she lied.

"Right, the event planner," Nathan said looking at her.

Nathan noticed the sadness and the far off look on her face while she watched the people down below and he couldn't help but wonder what else was going through her head at the moment. He was sure that he would never find out though. But he almost made him feel bad to see that look on face. Like he wished he could do something that would make her feel better. And that scared him a little bit. He just met this woman tonight and he was supposed to kill her and yet here he was, feeling bad for her. He hated himself sometimes.

He knew that he should just figure out a way to take care of the job now. That was the whole reason for following her to Venice after all. "I'm gonna try and get some sleep," he said, "you should do the same."

"You're right," Haley said, "it was nice talking to you again Mr. Scott."

"Call me Nathan."

_What the hell are you doing?! What are you doing?!_ Nathan asked himself. _No, no call me Nathan. God your such a pussy. _

"Ok," Haley said, "well goodnight Nathan."

"Night."

She walked inside and Nathan let out a frustrated groan before walking back inside. He couldn't believe himself sometimes. He could have had the opportunity to take care of things right then and there, but no. He had to let his guard down and let his emotions get in the way. How was he supposed to get his job done if he kept doing that?

* * *

Nathan got off his long flight back home and made his way to baggage claim. He just wanted to go home and sleep and that was what he was going to do. He wasn't going to call in and check with his dad or Peyton. He was just going to go home. He didn't want to deal with either of them right now. Especially since he didn't get the job done. He was going to get enough shit from them when he went into work the next morning. It could wait until then.

His bag finally came around after what felt like 3 hours but was more like 10 minutes. He grabbed it walked towards the parking garage where his Ferrari was parked. He smiled when he saw it. He'd missed it. He put his bag in the back before getting in and drying to his apartment. This whole routine of coming home and then leaving again was becoming so natural to him. He drove down the street until the tall brown brick building came into view. He saw the Roosevelt Collection title on the side of the building and he pulled into the parking garage.

He walked into the building and towards the elevator that was located in the very modern looking lobby. He waited in the elevator until he got to his floor. He didn't have to wait long until he got to his apartment. He opened the door and whistled for Max. Max came running towards him and Nathan kneeled down to pet him. "Hey Buddy," he said, "I know you were good while I was gone right?" he said. Max barked in response and Nathan smiled. He walked out to the living room and pushed the curtains out of the way of the tall windows that over looked the city. He grabbed his remote and turned on the TV. It was already on ESPN.

He walked to the kitchen and got Max's dog food out and poured it in a bowl before searching in the fridge for something for him. He found a microwave pizza and put it on a plate before putting it in the microwave. He leaned back against the counter and looked down at Max. "I'm gonna tell you something before you have to find it out the hard way," Nathan said, "don't ever get involved with girls. Ok now I know I'm one to talk but I'm serious. They're just gonna confuse the hell out of you and make it impossible to get your job done. I know they look good and they smell pretty good too, but trust me dude, they're trouble."

Max finished eating before running out of the kitchen to go find a toy in the living room. Nathan laughed and shook his head, "ok good talk."

Nathan finished eating before walking into his room and getting ready to go to bed. He wasn't quite ready for what would come the next day at work, but he knew it was coming. He just had to promise that he would get the job done. And he would. He had to.

* * *

Haley walked through the door to her apartment called for her dog Lyla. Lyla was a small golden retriever that Jake had given her when she moved into her new apartment. Lyla was the only thing besides Jake that Haley really cared about.

Lyla ran towards Haley and Haley stroked her head. "You know what I've decided," Haley said, "no dating for you. Boys are just trouble, you got that?" Haley laughed and petted her again before she walked into her room to get ready for bed. She wanted to get a good night sleep before she had to focus all of her attention on Nathan Scott. She was going to make sure she took him down.

**Please review!! I would love to know what you think. I put up links on my profile that show what their apartments and such look like. So please check those out too. Let me know what you think!**


	5. Like a Kingdom

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters**

**Chapter 5: Like a Kingdom**

Nathan sat in the chair across from his dad. He was happy for the barrier between them, that being the desk. He could see the tension in his father's shoulders and he could practically see the veins in his neck and the one in his forehead. To say that he was pissed would be an understatement. Nathan was rarely intimidated by anyone, but his father was something else. When he was mad, it was like he wasn't even human and Nathan felt the need to always pleases him. Which he knew he didn't do. But hopefully he wouldn't be too mad at him. Probably not, but he could still hope.

He sat there not saying a word waiting for his dad to say something. He knew that he probably didn't want him to say anything, but since it was going to happen, he just wanted to get it over with. Nathan leaned into the chair and crossed his arms over his chest and waited. He hated times like this. It was torture in and of itself when Dan didn't say anything, he just stood there all angry. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Dan said. Nathan groaned, _here we go,_ he thought. "It's not like this is even that tough of a case. I thought that I could count on you to get this done. I mean honestly Nathan! She's a woman for Christ's sake! And you couldn't do this? Maybe I should have sent Peyton to do this, she at least delivers results!"

Nathan scoffed. It wasn't that he didn't think that Peyton was good at her job, she was. But Nathan was the best, and he knew that. That was why his dad assigned him this case. He was overreacting about all of this. He should have had more faith in his son to know that he could finish this case. He should have known that he _would_ finish this case. Nothing was going to stop him from doing just that. And no girl, no matter how sexy with her long blonde hair and her dark chocolate eyes was going to get in the way of that. He'd be damned if he let that happen. "It was a minor set back, alright? I swear to God that I'm gonna get this job done. You know I will that's why you gave it to me. And you know what Dad," Nathan said standing up, "if you think I'm doing such poor ass job why don't you just take care of it yourself."

"Don't talk to me like that," Dan said, "I don't know who you think you're messing with boy, but I own you. You do what I want, when I want and I gave you a job and so far you're doing a good job at proving that it should never have been given to you in the first place."

"Whatever," Nathan said, "but trust me, you don't have to worry about Haley James or Andrew Jagelski. I'm gonna gain her trust and then I'm gonna take her out. When she's gone then Jagelski is gonna realize what a fool he was for even thinking about messing with us. When I take him out too, none of his men are gonna mess with us. I'm the best you've got Dad and I'm gonna get the job done."

Nathan didn't wait for Dan to say anything else before he turned around and walked out of his office. Eventually Dan would get over himself and realize that it was stupid for him to ever doubt Nathan. No one should ever doubt him. He walked out into the long hallway and saw Peyton leaning against the wall next to the door. He knew that she and probably everyone else in the hall had heard him and his dad yelling. But it was normal. His dad always chewed him out for the littlest things. "He really ripped you a new one," Peyton said and smirked.

"He usually does," Nathan said and walked the hall with Peyton standing next to him. He turned right and went down another long hallway before he stopped at his office. He made a point of having his office far from his dad's. He didn't need him coming around all the time and he didn't need him so close. And with him being a little bit away from him, he had time to get the warning texts from Peyton or Owen that he was on his way. "He'll learn eventually that he should just trust me." Nathan walked into his office and towards his desk. It was covered in papers and files from the last case. He was going to have to give those to Rachel so she could get rid of them. They always had to burn any information they had about a case so it couldn't be traced back to them. On the wall there was a world map with pins that showed all the places he'd been. There were a lot of pins.

There were shelves lined with trophies he'd gotten in high school and some from the years he'd spent playing ball in college. He really didn't get to play long before his dad made him drop out so he could officially be apart of the business. There were pictures of him with his brother and his family. There were some pictures of him and Owen out at various bars. That was the most he put in his office. He didn't want to decorate it because he didn't want to be there a lot. He'd rather be out on an a job than there. At leas that was exciting.

"Oh come on Nathan," Peyton said leaning against the door frame while Nathan picked up the scattered papers on his desk. "I mean I'm not saying I agree with all the things your dad was saying to you, but come on. You totally had the opportunity to take her out and you didn't. The Nathan Scott I know would have gotten the job done then and there. So what was going on with you?"

"I wanna gain her trust. Which I don't think is gonna take long and then I'll take care of it. Quick and easy."

Peyton shrugged her shoulders and crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever you say," she said, "I just think you should take care of this sooner rather than later."

"Well I got it," Nathan said, "don't worry."

She nodded again before turning around and walking out of his office. She had work to do and had better things to do than argue with him. She really didn't understand why he didn't just take care of things when he had the chance. But she probably wouldn't understand most of the things that Nathan did. He was so damn stubborn.

Nathan pushed the old files towards the edge of his desk before sitting in his chair and starting his computer. When it was booted up he signed into the company database. He wanted to learn more about Haley on his own. He typed her name into the database and waited for it to load. When it did a picture of her came up with information listed underneath. In the picture her hair was down in waves that came well past her shoulders. She wore a simple white tank top and pair of black shorts. The picture was taken from a distance but he could see the bruises on her legs.

Under her picture he read more about how she worked for Andrew Jagelski. She'd been working for him since she was 19. She was now 22 but according to this her birthday was in a few weeks. The database listed the many people she'd been assigned to and what their connection with the Scotts was. He was surprised that they had some clients in common. They had been assigned to a few of the same people, a few of which she'd actually beat him to. He had always wondered who it was that had gotten there before him. It actually bruised his ego a little bit that it was Haley.

"Hey man," he heard from by the door. He looked up and saw Owen standing in the doorway. Owen was a big guy. He was stood at around 6 foot 7, one of the only guys Nathan knew who was actually taller than him. His arms were huge, like he spent his whole life in a gym. His dark hair was kept short and it looked like he'd recently shaved. Owen walked farther into the office and took a seat across from Nathan.

"Hey," Nathan said and looked back at the screen. Nathan met Owen when he was 17 and Owen was 20 and had just stared working for Dan. They had become friends fast and he considered Owen to be his best friend. "What's up?" he asked.

Owen shrugged, "I just got back." Owen had been on an job in Asia. He had just brought down a man who had been in charge of not only drug, but human trafficking. That was one of the biggest cases Owen had taken on and he was proud of himself that he had been able to stop it. Not many people would have. "I'm tired as hell but I thought I should check in. Hey, why is your dad in such a bad mood? I thought he might have been a little happier with me but apparently he knows something I don't.'

"It has nothing to do with you," Nathan told him and leaned back in his chair. "He's pissed at me, he'll get over it."

"What did you do this time?"

"I didn't do anything. I got a new case and he's pissed that I haven't already taken care of it."

"Oh yeah. Rachel was telling me that you were assigned to Haley James. How's that going?"

"Ehh," Nathan said, "it's going. But apparently it's not going fast enough."

Owen shrugged again. "Oh well, you'll get it done, you always do."

"I know that," Nathan said, "I wish my dad would realize that and get off my back!"

"Just prove him wrong and take care of it now."

"I want to do it in my own way. I'm tried of him thinking that he owns me."

"He is your boss, and your dad."

"Both of which I'm aware of." Nathan sighed and leaned forward again and continued to look over the page that had the information about Haley. He was surprised that Owen was telling him that he should do things his dad's way. He of all people should have known that he hated doing things anyone's way but his own.

"I hear she's hot," Owen said, "that Haley girl. I've never even seen her but I heard some of the guys talking about her, is she hot?"

Nathan turned the monitor that sat on his desk and faced it towards Owen. This time the picture was the same one that Nathan had gotten in the file about her the first day he was assigned. Owen whistled and leaned back in the chair. Nathan laughed before turning the monitor back so it was facing him. He wasn't sure that hot was right in describing her. She was more than hot. "Yeah, I know," Nathan said.

"That's not distracting at all," Owen joked.

Nathan laughed and shook his head, "no, not at all."

Owen stood up and walked back towards the door. "I'll leave you to… research or stalk or whatever it is that you're doing." Nathan laughed and nodded. "But let's celebrate my homecoming? Yeah? Alright." Owen laughed before walking out the door. Nathan could hear him talking to people he passed in the hall and smiled before looking back at his computer. He was glad that Owen was home. Sometimes he worried about him. Owen was always so trusting when it came to people, but Nathan knew that to do what they did, they had to be guarded.

He looked back at the picture of Haley and he wondered if she knew that. If she did, maybe it would be harder than he thought to get her to trust him. But he was going to do it. This was going to be the biggest blow Jagelski and his crew had felt in a long time when he took out their best agent. They would know it was personal and then they would finally learn to keep their distance.

* * *

Haley jogged down the streets of Chicago. Lyla was on the leash attached to her hand. She loved running. It made her feel so free, and like she didn't have to do anything to please anyone but herself. Running was just about her. It was her personal goal to get where ever she was going and it only mattered to her. She loved the feel of the cement under her Nikes as she jogged. All she could hear was the music from her iPod and her own breathing. She drowned out the noise of the city around her. For a moment, she almost felt normal.

She almost felt like any other woman in the city. Like she didn't just come home from Italy where she'd killed a man. Like it wasn't her job to be a killer. Sometimes when she really thought about it, she hated herself. She could see herself bruised and beaten, covered in blood. She saw a killer when she thought about herself. Sometimes she wanted to just see Haley. A happy girl with a normal job and a normal life. Maybe even in love at some point. But that woman was just a fantasy. Someone she told people she was so they didn't ask questions. But that woman would never be real. Haley could feel it inside of herself, she would never live a normal life. She would never meet a guy who would change her life. She probably wouldn't ever get married and have kids. That thought depressed the hell out of her.

She rounded the corner to her building and when she did she saw Jake standing by the front of the building. He had to cups of Starbucks in his hands and his phone pressed between his shoulder and his ear. She slowed to a walk and made her way towards him. He stuck out the hand that had her coffee in it and when she took it her took the opportunity to grab his phone. She listened to what he was saying while she took a sip of her coffee. She assumed he was talking to Whitey again.

Haley moved past him to open the door behind them. She smiled at the doorman before signaling Jake to come inside with her. They walked through the large lobby, Lyla still at her side, and towards the elevators. When they were inside Jake finally got off the phone and put it back in his pocket. "You should just get that thing permanently attached to your ear," Haley said when they got to her floor. She walked out of the elevator and Jake followed behind her, "you're practically on it all the time."

Jake laughed and said, "it's good to see you too Hales."

"I'm just sayin," Haley opened the door to her apartment and let Lyla off her leash. She watched as she ran in and began to play with one of the toys she'd left on the living room floor. "What did Whitey say?"

"My dad wants to see you."

Haley nodded. "Yeah I figured."

"You sound nervous."

"I'm not. Not really. I'm just not excited to tell him about who I ran into when I was at Damien's party."

"Who?"

"Nathan Scott."

Jake sat down on one of the stools at the counter and leaned back on his elbows that rested on the counter. "What was he doing there?"

Haley shrugged, "I have no idea. I guess he had some ties to Damien that we just never came across. I don't know how we could have not known, but I guess it just slipped through some holes." It was really bugging her. How did they not know that they were connected. Maybe Nathan had been assigned to Damien too and she never knew. She knew there were times when she had the same cases as other people in different corporations, maybe that happened with Nathan. Not like she could ask though. She would never really know.

"I guess," Jake said, "but there's usually nothing that can just slip through. There's gotta be a reason that he was there."

"Well if it had something to do with Damien it doesn't matter. He's taken care off."

"Yeah," Jake said but still couldn't help but think. How was it possible? If Nathan and his group were in any way attached to one of their cases, they would have known. He shook his head, leaving all those thoughts behind and he focused again on Haley. "You should change and come with me to the office. I'm sure Dad wants to talk to you."

Haley nodded and set her coffee down and walked past her friend and towards her room. It wasn't long until she heard the sound of the TV turn on and the voices of the people on Sports Center that followed. She walked to her closet and pulled out a white long sleeve V-neck shirt. She then pulled out her favorite pair of dark washed True Religion jeans. She slipped them on before walking to the bathroom to fix her hair and make up. She brushed her hair back and pulled it into a sleek pony tail and quickly did her make up. When she walked back to her room she pulled on a pair of brown Ugg boots over her jeans and grabbed a brown and pink scarf.

When she walked out she saw Jake's eyes glued to the TV. He was watching reports of previous games. She grabbed her coffee off the table and said, "alright. Let's go." Jake shut the TV off and stood up before following her out the door.

* * *

Haley sat in front of Andrew while he continued to look at something on the computer. "Just a moment," he said, "I'm sorry." She told him it was okay before she continued to look down at her hands. Her nail polish was dark blue, so dark it was almost black. Some of it was starting to chip off and she realized she would have to re paint them soon. "Ok," Andrew said and looked away from his computer. "So… very well done in Venice. That ledger with all the names is going to come in quite handy. I knew I made the right decision in sending you there."

"Oh," Haley said and couldn't help but smile at the compliment, "thank you so much. I'm really glad you had enough faith in my to assign me to that case. It's probably the biggest on you've given me."

"Well I knew you could handle it. But let's talk about the Scott case. As you know he's in Chicago, both of them are. They operate here just like we do. I think the sooner you find him the better. You know it's not like me to ever feel threatened by anyone. But Scott's corporation, it's big. Just like us. If they over throw me, then they are in complete control. They're the ones taking our clients, they're taking our hits. They're putting more hits on us. That is if they can over throw us. We're like a kingdom Haley. We want the most control, we don't want anyone to run us or tell us how we're supposed to run things. That's exactly what they'll do if they take me out. The opposing country taking out the king."

"That won't happen," Haley promised. "Dan Scott won't see it coming. His reign is over. Nathan Scott will be out, Dan will have lost his best agent, and his son and he'll be scared. He can play the boss for now if he wants, but under all that, there's just a scared man. I'm gonna bring that out in him, and then I'm going to end him. It's what I do best." Even as she said that she could feel something inside of her aching. She was a natural killer. It was true, that is what she did best. She hated that, but it's the way it was. It was what she was good at and with Jake and his family was where she belonged. They were the only family she had.

"I know you will. It's what you were made for." Andrew smiled at the girl who had been like a daughter to him all these years. "I'll leave you to it," he said and motioned to the door. Haley smiled at him once more and stood up before making her way towards the door. He knew that he should have told her the whole truth about why he'd assigned her to this, but not now. For now she needed to believe that it was just because she was the best, which she was. She could learn the truth later.

Haley saw Jake sitting at his desk when she walked out of Andrew's office. "I'll call you later tonight," he said, "we can do dinner or something. I have to take care of some stuff here."

"Alright," she said, "I'll see you later."

She walked past the other people in the office as she made her way towards the elevator. On the walls next to the elevator metal chrome letters were hung on the painted dry wall that said REMEMBER THE FALLEN. Below them were pictures of agents that had been lost. Close to the elevator she stopped and looked at a picture that was hanging. Under the picture there was a plaque that said_ Jimmy and Lydia James lost December 2005_

Haley stared at the picture of her parents. They had their arms around each other and big smiles on their faces. She could feel the tears coming to her eyes while she looked at it. She looked away and pressed the down button quickly 3 times hoping the elevator would come faster. When the doors opened she hurried inside and pressed the button for the lobby. She had been working in that office since she was 19. Well sure, she hadn't been doing office work, but she'd been in there many times. That picture had been there since she was 17. As awful as it seemed, she tried not to look at it, ever. But today, it caught her eye. In a month it would be the 5th year anniversary of her parents death.

When the doors opened again she walked out of them and through the large lobby and towards the doors. When they opened she let the cold air fall around her. She walked towards the end of the sidewalk and stuck her hand out for a cab. She tried to get the attention of a driver but she couldn't seem to get one. She could fire a gun with great aim, she could fight a man twice her size, she could survive being thrown from moving vehicles, but she couldn't get a cab in the city. She heard a loud whistle from behind her and then a cab came to a stop at the curb beside her.

Haley turned around to face the person who had whistled for the cab. When she did she was met with dark blue eyes. Nathan Scott was standing just inches away from her. As if on instinct she took a few steps back. "What are you doing here?" she asked suddenly.

"Oh," Nathan said, "well I just moved here for work," he quickly lied, "and I was out getting something to eat and I happened to see you trying to get a cab." He moved towards her again and leaned around her to open the door. "You're welcome by the way."

"Yeah thanks," Haley said and rested her hand on top of the bright yellow door of the cab. "What a coincidence that you would happen to be here."

"And you too," he said, "I thought you lived in-"

"I moved," she quickly finished for him. "I have family here." It was more or less true and besides, Nathan Scott was the last person who needed to know anything personal about her.

"Crazy," he said knowing that she was lying. He'd read all about her, she didn't have family here. "I'm glad I ran into you though. The truth is, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since the night at Damien's." He was really laying on the charm. All the other women that he'd put his moves on had fallen for it quick. But he knew that Haley wasn't like any other woman. He could tell by the small eye roll at his words.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, "well I guess that's sort of sweet."

"Sort of?"

"Yeah."

Nathan smirked, "maybe you'd want to get dinner sometime? I mean I know that's asking a lot since I really don't know you, but I figured it could be a fun time."

Haley knew that she needed to get closer to him if she had any chance of taking him out without a struggle. It was the way she did things when she was assigned to men. It was what she did to Damien. She made him trust her, made him let her into his life, made him feel like he was important to her. Then she took him out. And she would do the same thing to Nathan. She would just have to keep her guard up while she did it. She knew what he was capable of. "Why not," she said, "I think we could have some good times together."

Nathan couldn't deny that he was surprised that she had agreed so quickly. Maybe behind the dangerous front she put up, she really wasn't that guarded. "Alright. It's lucky I ran into you Haley James."

"Lucky indeed."

**Crap ending I know…. But review anyway?**


	6. The Company

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters**

**Sorry for the wait! To put it simply.. I suck.**

**Chapter 6: The Company**

_Haley sat on Jake's bed waiting for him to came back to his room. His dad had just gotten home from work and said that he needed to talk to Jake. From the tone of Andrew's voice it sounded serious. She wanted to listen to what they were saying but she couldn't be rude. But still, what could he have to talk to him about that was so serious? _

_It wasn't any of her business, she reminded herself. But still. After sitting on his bed for a few minutes she couldn't help herself and she stood up. It wasn't really listening if she just happened to open the door to see if Jake was coming back and she accidentally heard something, right? And who's to say that whatever they were talking about was really all that top secret anyways. _

_She slowly opened the door, trying to avoid the squeaking of the hinge. When it squeaked she flinched before looking up at the hinge. But, luckily their hushed voices from the end of the stairs didn't stop talking. It appeared that they hadn't heard her at all. _

"_Jake you're 18 now. It's time that you start your training."_

"_Did it ever occur to you that that's not what I want? Maybe I want something different for me than what you want."_

"_The company's not good enough for you then?" Andrew asked and Haley could hear the disappointment in his voice. _

"_You know that's not what I'm saying. I just don't know if that's what's _right_ for me."_

"_Jacob this has been what your life was going to be from the day you were born. You were born into this and it's what you have to do."_

_What were they talking about? Haley knew that Andrew always wanted Jake to become an agent, but why was Jake suddenly so against it? He'd always been excited about the idea of following in his dad's footsteps, but something had obviously changed. He was apprehensive now about the idea and she couldn't understand why. _

"_You have to do this," Andrew said, "and soon so will Haley."_

_Haley froze at the mention of her name. Why was she being brought up?_

"_Don't bring her into this," Jake said, "you can't expect her to want to be in the same field as her parents. Not after everything."_

"_Jake-"_

"_It's what got them killed dad."_

_Her parents had been killed by an intruder. She would never forget that day. She was hid under her bed upstairs and she had to listen to the sounds of the gunshots that killed her parents. What was Jake talking about? Why was he saying this was what killed them? He knew what happened just as well as she did._

"_You can't bring her into this," Jake said before turning to walk upstairs._

_Haley saw him coming and quickly, but quietly shut the door in front of her. She couldn't have him know that she'd been listening. But she was left with so many unanswered questions. Maybe she did need to tell him what she'd heard. _

_Seconds later Jake walked back into his room and saw her standing by his bed. "Sorry," he said, "I didn't think it'd take that long."_

"_What were talking about?" she asked suddenly._

_Jake looked up at her and his eyes refused to meet hers. "Nothing."_

"_You're lying."_

_Jake shook his head. "It's nothing."_

"_I heard you. I know that you're lying to me."_

_Jake sighed and ran his hand through his hair before taking a step towards Haley. "Don't Haley. You don't need to know."_

"_It concerns me too. I heard your dad say that I need to do something soon. The same thing you do. Don't tell me that I don't need to know. It's about me, Jake. You said something about my parents, something about me. Don't lie to me."_

"_My dad…" he started and paused looking for the right words. "And your parents. They're not… They weren't just cops Hales. It's a lot more complicated than that."_

"_Explain it to me."_

"_They were assassins."_

_Haley shook her head. "What are you talking about?"_

"_My dad runs the largest company in the city, maybe even the country. They train assassins and they kill the bad guys, Hales. Your parents they did that. And someone had them killed."_

"_No," Haley said, "I was there. It was someone who broke into our house. It wasn't-"_

"_It was personal Hales. It was someone trying to scare my dad. Your parents were the best in the company. They wanted to take them out, to scare my dad. And that meant killing your parents. And I'm so sorry that it had to be that way."_

"_How long have you known this?"_

_Haley could feel her heart sink as Jake filled her with this new information. They had been killed, stalked and hunted. It wasn't just random, it was personal. And Jake knew about it and never said anything to her. _

"_I've known the truth about the company since I was 15."_

"_And you never said anything to me?"_

"_I couldn't!" Jake said and took another step towards her. He grabbed her arms so she couldn't back away from him. "I never wanted to keep this from you! I just couldn't tell you."_

"_So you lied to me. You knew about my parents and you lied to me. How can I ever trust you now."_

"_Haley, please. You know that I would have told you if I could! I'm sorry!"_

"_Let go of me," she said trying to get her arms from the grips of his hands. "Let go of me Jake."_

_He released her arms and she hurried towards his door and out of his room. She rushed down the hall to the room that was now hers. It had been since the day that Andrew legally adopted her. When she reached her room she slammed the door behind her. _

_She felt like she couldn't breathe. She was being suffocated by everything that she'd just learned. She felt like her brain couldn't process everything that she'd just learned. None of it made sense. How could she have not known all of that and Jake did? Why didn't he tell her? He was supposed to tell her everything. That's what best friends did. But he'd been lying to her._

_Now what Andrew was saying made sense. Jake had to start training to become what her parents were. And she was supposed to start soon, too. She was supposed to follow in their footsteps. She wondered if that had always been the plan for her. If her parents were still alive, when would they have told her?_

_The more she thought about it, the more she realized she didn't have a choice. That's what her life was now. She would have to do this. So would Jake. They didn't have a choice._

_She sat on the floor of her bedroom for another hour letting everything sink in. Finally she stood up again before walking towards her door. When she opened it she looked down the hall towards Jake's room and saw that the light was still on. She walked towards his door before turning the knob and opening the door. _

_Jake turned around in his chair and faced away from his computer screen. He saw Haley standing in the doorway and it was obvious that she'd been crying. He could see the tear stains on her face and the exhausted look she wore. "Hales-" he began but was cut off by her voice._

"_I'm angry with you," she said, "you lied to me Jacob. You knew secrets that I should have known. You've known them for so long and you never told me."_

"_I know," he said and stood up, "and I'm so, so sorry Hales. I should have never kept them from you, it wasn't fair."_

"_No, it wasn't. I needed to know those things Jake. I needed to."_

"_I know," he said again._

_There were a few minutes of silence before Haley stepped back into his room and shut the door behind her. "You're supposed to start training?" _

"_Yeah," Jake replied, "my dad wants me to start soon I guess. It's supposed to start when you're 18 and I'm 18."_

"_So am I," Haley said and Jake nodded. "He wants me to start too, doesn't he?" _

"_Yes," Jake answered, "but I'm sure we can talk him out of that. I mean I know that that's probably not something you want. It's not even what I want. But I think if we talk to him he'll change his mind about you-"_

"_No," Haley said, "I don't want him to change his mind. I want in."_

Haley sat at her computer trying to do more research on Nathan but her mind kept wandering back to that night. Maybe it seemed crazy that she wanted so badly to be apart of this. But it wasn't crazy to her. She wanted to be apart of something that her parents were apart of. They used to be the best and now it was her time to be the best. And she was. She'd made sure of it.

She shook her head and looked back at the screen. She'd signed into the company files from home and now she was trying to find all the dirt on Nathan that she could. She had one tab up from the company, the other from anything she could find from the internet. So far she hadn't really found anything that would help her. She learned that he came from a small town in North Carolina. She learned that he'd played basketball on varsity all four years and that he'd started in college when he attended Duke. But he only played for a year before he dropped out in his sophomore year.

But there wasn't anything all that useful on the internet. And what she was finding on the database wasn't that great either. She was hoping to find out who his previous hits had been, maybe more pictures that would tell her where he spent his time. But there really wasn't anything. It was like he didn't exist. Where had he come from?

She sighed before leaning her head in her hands. It was almost 8 o'clock and she was supposed to meet Jake for dinner. It was time that she stopped work for the day. And that was hard for her to do.

Whenever Haley got a new case, it became her life. Jake told her that he took her work too seriously. But she had to take it seriously. If she didn't focus on work she would spend too much time focusing on all the bad things in her life. She needed work as a distraction from everything else. She didn't need to think about her dead parents, or people that'd she'd grown close with that she'd lost over the years. It just wasn't healthy. Work kept her sane.

She shut down the computer before walking into her bedroom. Her eyes scanned her closet as she tried to decide what she wanted to wear to dinner with Jake. She finally decided on a gray cotton high wasted skirt with a long sleeve black shirt tucked into the top. She paired it with lace patterned tights and black boots. It had started to snow recently so she grabbed her leather jacket that she'd swiped from Jake's closet and a red scarf. She finally decided she was ready.

She filled Lyla's bowl before walking out the door. She made her way to the elevator and hit the button for the lobby. Normally she would have been excited for a night out with her best friend, but she just couldn't get her mind off Nathan. She really needed to stop thinking about him. Her mind needed to leave work for awhile.

* * *

Haley walked through the doors of Wilde Bar and Restaurant and looked around for Jake. The place was packed as usual. Normally she hated crowds like this. There were always the usual drunk guys who thought it was necessary to talk as loud as possible. As if everyone wanted to hear their delightful conversation. And the girls were just as bad.

But it was Jake's favorite so she couldn't say no.

She made her way through the crowded bar and into the restaurant section of the building. She saw Jake sitting at a booth on the other side of the room and she hurried over to where he was sitting. She was already 20 minutes late because of traffic and she didn't want to keep him waiting anymore. "I'm so sorry," she said as she rushed over to the table. She placed a kiss on his cheek before sitting across from him.

"It's fine, Hales," he said with a smile before taking a sip of the beer in front of him. "I ordered a drink for you. Hope that was ok?"

"Well that depends," she said as she flipped open the menu, "what'd you get me?"

"Purple Haze," he answered looking at the beer that was placed in front of her.

"Yum," she said before taking a sip. "You know me so well."

"I've only known you my whole life so I should hope so."

He smiled at her again before taking another sip of his Guinness. "So why were you so late?" he asked. He wasn't mad, not at all. He just had a bet going with himself that it had something to do with work. It usually did.

"Oh," she said, "traffic."

"And you probably left late."

"No," she said quickly before pushing her hair behind her hears. "Maybe just a little late, but it wasn't that bad."

"Whatever Hales," he said with a chuckle, "you were looking into the case again weren't you."

"Well…" she started, "I mean I had to Jake! Do you know how hard it is to find anything on him. It's like he just appeared out of now where. I mean there's high school stuff and some college stuff on the internet but it's all about basketball. And besides that, no ones heard of him. You'd think that someone, somewhere might have heard of him."

Jake took a bite of the crab cakes that he'd ordered as he listened to her. This was so typical of her. Getting caught up in a case was just the Haley thing to do. When she first started with Damien all she did was spend her time learning every personal thing about him that she could.

"You think he's gonna go around broadcasting his life on the net?" he asked before leaning in over the table a bit. "He's an assassin Hales. It's not like that's something you tell everyone. I mean do you tell everyone that?"

"Of course not," she said and rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying even the company has nothing on him. If his father hadn't put a hit on Andrew I'd be questioning why it is that we're even looking into him. I mean there is nothing on this guy."

"Nothing that you've found yet," Jake said. "You'll find something. You always do."

Haley sighed. "It's just frustrating."

"Why?"

"Because normally I would have had more on him. But this guy…"

"He's not like everyone else."

"Exactly."

Jake smiled. "Well I'm not worried about it. I trust that you'll find something. Besides didn't you say he asked you go to dinner with him tomorrow? I mean isn't that good? Don't you want to get close to him?"

"Well yeah," Haley replied before sipping her beer. "I do. It's just…" she trailed off, searching for the right words. But the right words weren't something she wanted to share. If she was telling the truth, she was scared to get close to him. Not because she was afraid of him, she wasn't afraid of anyone. But because she was afraid of the way he made her feel. Those moments with him in Venice had left her feeling a way that she never had.

She shook her head of those ridiculous thoughts. She'd only known him for a little while and she was acting like he was something special. He wasn't any different than any man she'd killed before. He was nothing special.

"Just what?" Jake asked.

"Nothing," Haley said, "he's nothing."

* * *

Nathan concentrated as he steadied the stick between his fingers. He had his eye on the ball in front of him and he shot it into the side pocket before a smirk came to his face. "Damn, I'm so good," he gloated before taking his next shot.

"Oh shut up, Nathan."

Nathan smirked again before looking at his sister-in-law who stood on the other side of the pool table. This was the 3rd time tonight that he was beating her and Lucas in a game of pool. She should have known better than to challenge him. "Come on, Brooke," Nathan said, "don't be such a sore loser."

"I'm not," she said before grabbing her bottle of beer from the edge of the table and taking a sip. "You're just an asshole."

"He's always been like this," Lucas said from his spot on the other end of the table next to Owen.

"And you've always been a loser," Nathan joked as he looked at his older brother. Lucas flipped him off before going to stand next to his wife. "I don't know why you picked the teams the way you did," he said looking at Brooke. "It's like you wanted to lose. I mean you and Luke versus me and Owen? Not smart Brooke."

"I've always hated you," she joked before leaning into her husband's embrace.

"Love you, too, Brooke."

Owen chuckled before taking his shot on the table. "So glad I'm not married into this family."

Lucas laughed, "come on Owen," he said, "we're not that bad!"

"He's spent enough time around dad to know that he doesn't want to be apart of this family. And he's right," Nathan replied as he placed his empty beer bottle on a tray a waitress held as she walked by.

"Yeah," Lucas said, "I forget that you know Dan. Doesn't exactly make you want to join the Scott clan does he?"

Owen shook his head, "yeah not exactly."

"At least you never grew up with him," Nathan replied looking at both Owen and Lucas.

Lucas was raised by his mother and their uncle Keith. Nathan had been raised by Dan and his mother Deb. Well, he'd really been raised by nannies. Both his parents were usually too busy to give him the time of day. Nathan envied Lucas because he never really had to know Dan. Of course he knew him, but not the way Nathan did. And he was lucky because of that.

"Lucked out on that one," Lucas said before taking his shot on the pool table.

Brooke smiled sympathetically at her husband before placing her hand on his shoulder. "Let's talk about something more fun?" she said, "I didn't come here to hang out with a bunch of sad sacs."

Nathan laughed before saying, "what do you want to talk about then Brooke?"

"Well," she said thinking about it, "oh! Nate there's this girl who started working at the store, her names Rene and I think you might really like her. She's pretty and nice and totally your type-"

"You mean she'll let him fuck her and then not care if he never calls her?" Owen asked before glancing at Nathan who started laughing.

"No," Brooke said rolling her eyes, "but I think you might really like her."

"No Brooke," Nathan said while shaking his head, "I'm sick of the girls you set me up with. They're always the same. They talk about themselves for the whole date and then I'm sick of them. So no, no more setting me up."

"Just meet her!" Brooke said and pouted. "For me, Nate!"

"All of the other dates have been for you, so no!"

"You're no fun."

Nathan shook his head before taking his shot at the table. Brooke was always setting him up with the worst kinds of girls. The girls were way to self centered and knew nothing about the real world. They always talked about their daddy's money and growing up a rich girl. He was sick of those kinds of girls. He wanted a girl who was real and gave a shit about something besides herself. Brooke didn't seem to know girls like that.

Not that it mattered. He had no time to date anyways. The job didn't really leave him open for a relationship.

"Are you still coming over for dinner tomorrow night?" Lucas asked, "my mom and Keith are coming over."

"I can't actually," Nathan said, "I have a date."

"What?" Brooke asked and cocked her eyebrow. "Is that why you won't let me set you up?"

"No," Nathan replied, "it's not really a date. Well it is, but it's kind of a work thing."

"You're new case?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah."

Lucas shook his head, "why do you get yourself this involved? I mean you always do something to get yourself too involved when you should just do what you're supposed to do and take them out. I don't understand you."

"No one asked you to," Nathan said and sighed, "don't tell me how to do my job. It's not your job so stay out of it."

"Guys," Brooke said, "can we not argue for no reason? I mean I came to have fun tonight."

"Blame it on your husband," Nathan replied his eyes not leaving his brother.

Lucas rolled his eyes before looking away from Nathan. Sometimes he got so sick of his attitude. Nathan always acted like he knew what was the best thing to do in every situation and he really didn't. No matter how much he acted like he did, he didn't. Sometimes he was wrong and he needed to know it. Getting involved to the point of where he would started dating the girl he was supposed to kill, wasn't right. As far as Lucas was concerned it was completely wrong.

"I gotta go," Nathan said, "I have to get up early."

He grabbed his leather jacket off the back of the chair he'd left it on and put it on himself before walking towards the door. Owen said his goodbyes before hurrying after his friend. He saw Nathan standing on the sidewalk trying to catch a cab. He whistled loudly and two stopped before him. Nathan was the only person Owen knew who could always catch a cab whenever he wanted.

"How do you do that?" Owen asked as he climbed into the cab behind Nathan.

"What can I say?" Nathan replied with a smirk, "I'm just that good."

* * *

Haley stood in front of her full length mirror and looked at her reflection. She wore a black wrap dress with a pair of bright red flats. Her hair was curled and swept to the side and her make up was left natural. She grabbed her navy pea coat and shrugged it on before walking the front door. She still had to try and get a cab before going to dinner. She didn't think it was a good idea for him to know where she lived so she offered to meet him at the restaurant.

She stepped out into the cold night air and instantly shivered while trying to get a cab. "Want to wait inside while I catch a cab for you?" the doorman asked while smiling kindly at her.

"No," she said, "I'm tough I can handle it," she smiled and watched as she stepped off the sidewalk and stuck his hand out. After a few tries a cab stopped and he opened the door for her. "Thank you," she said as she sat down in the seat.

She gave the address and waited while the cab drove to the restaurant. She'd only been to The Gage once. It was a really nice restaurant and it was some what expensive. The only time she'd been there was right after she and Jake joined the company and Andrew and Jake's mother Mary wanted to take them out for a nice dinner.

When the cab stopped she paid the driver before opening her door. When she got out she was once again hit with the cold air. She quickly made her way towards the door and when she opened it she stopped in her tracks when she saw Nathan standing just on the other side. He wore a dark green button up shirt tucked into a pair of dark navy dress pants. He looked really good. Damn, him.

"Haley," he said with a smile when he saw her. "Wow," he said looking at her, "you look really nice."

"Thanks," she said with a blush. She began to unbutton her pea coat. she shrugged it off her shoulders and draped it over her arm. "You look really good, too."

"Oh, well thanks," he replied and ran a nervous hand over the back of his neck.

He wasn't sure what it was about her that made him so nervous. It wasn't like him to get that way because of a girl. Normally he was the one who made girls nervous. And he really shouldn't feel that way because of her. Especially her. She was completely off limits. He wasn't allowed to have any feelings for her. But it was hard when she looked the way she looked.

They waited in an awkward silence to be seated at a table. Haley heard the hostess talking about how many people came in tonight and how booked up they were. She wondered how hard it was to get a reservation.

Finally they were walked to their table. Haley sat down in the seat across from Nathan and they were both handed a drink menu. Haley looked over the menu and stopped when she saw what she wanted. "Can I get a Margarita?" she asked the waitress who nodded and smiled at her.

"And for you sir?"

"Stella Artois," Nathan replied.

The waitress smiled at the both of them before walking away from the table to go put in their orders. Haley continued to look over the menu and then Nathan spoke up. "A Margarita, huh? I like that."

"Yeah," Haley replied, "I'm kinda a sucker for them."

"I like that though. Other girls might try to be fancy and order something they can't pronounce, but you know what you want and you don't have to fake it. I like that in a girl."

"So you're saying I'm not fancy?" Haley asked with a small laugh.

"I never said that. I just mean you don't have to fake it. It comes naturally for you."

Haley couldn't help but blush again. "Wow," she said, "what a charmer."

Nathan smirked. "You haven't even seen my A game."

Haley couldn't help but laugh. Nathan was clearly a charmer. He knew exactly what to say to make a girl smile or blush. He was a pro at this sort of thing. She could tell right away that it would be hard to not fall for things like that. But she had to remind herself to be strong.

Somehow she was going to have to get close to him, without letting him get close to her. It was going to be hard. Really hard.

They continued to talk while they ate. They made small talk, talk about their families, for her it was pretty much all made up. She told him a little about her parents, but not that they were dead. That was a little heavy for a first date. But as far as she was convinced they would never be close enough for him to find out about things like that. It wasn't necessary for him to know anything like that.

"So," Nathan said, "do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"Um," Haley answered, "well yeah I actually I do. I have a little brother."

"Oh yeah?" Nathan asked, "how old?"

"He's 13."

Haley never really talked about Adam. She rarely got to see him and it killed her. He was so young when her parents were killed and her grandparents immediately wanted to have him come live with them. They knew about the arrangement for Haley with Andrew and his family and they weren't about to change that. But they also didn't want Adam brought into that. If they could keep that from happening they would. And they did.

"Are you guys close?" Nathan asked before taking a bite of the meal in front of him.

"Not as much as I'd like to be. I don't really see him very much. I think he thinks I stay away because I don't love him. But that's not true."

"Is he the one you moved here for?"

Haley had to stop and think about what he was saying. Then she remembered telling him that she had just moved to Chicago because her family lived here. "Yes," she answered, "I want to see him more. I know how important it is to get every moment in that you can with the people you love. I don't want to take that for granted anymore."

"I know what you mean."

"Are you close with your family?" Haley asked. She knew he must have been close with his father to be doing all his dirty work. But what about the rest of his family? How much was it going to hurt when she killed him?

Nathan shrugged. "Not really. I mean my dad's kind of a hard person to get to know. He's kind of all work. And my mom. Well my parents divorced when I was young and I lived with my dad so I didn't really see a whole lot of her. And I have a brother. He's older. He's that guy that seems to have everything he wants, ya know?"

"Perfect job, perfect family? That kind of guy?"

"Exactly," Nathan replied, "he's married to the girl he's been in love with since high school. They have a beautiful daughter, beautiful house. Both have jobs that they love. Everything's worked out for them."

"And you want that?"

"No," he said shaking his head. "I don't think that's ever really been the life for me. I'm more independent."

"I know exactly what you mean."

In that moment he wondered, how alike were they? Were they really similar? Did they have the same sense of independence? What was she really like? From what he could tell, she was amazing. It almost made him feel bad that he would have to kill her. Almost. But then he remembered, she was just a job. She wasn't anything special.

They continued to talk about things like work. How they got into their fake jobs, what caused an interest in even planning? How hard was law school? Things like that. As far as they knew, the other had no idea they were completely lying about that. Both of them had become good liars over the years and it wasn't hard to fake this anymore.

When the meal ended Nathan paid for their bill before they both walked outside. It had started snowing again. "I hate cold weather," Nathan mumbled as they stepped out into the snow.

"I don't," Haley said, "it makes me think of Christmas."

Nathan smiled. "What is it with chicks and holidays? My sister-in-law loves Christmas and all those kinds of things."

"Holidays are the best," Haley said, "weren't you excited for Christmas when you were little? I mean all the family and stuff like that? That was the best time of year."

Well it was. At least until her parents were killed just a week before Christmas.

"I guess. But I was mostly excited for the presents."

Haley laughed. "Typical."

Haley looked towards the street and saw how busy it was because it was Friday night. Cabs were going to be hard to get. "Do you want me to get you a cab?" Nathan asked, "I seem to be pretty good at that."

Haley laughed. "No, it's ok. I think I'm gonna walk I don't really live that far from here actually. Just a few blocks," she said pointing down the street.

"Well at least let me walk you."

Haley thought about that for a minute. It really wasn't a good idea for her to let Nathan Scott know where she lived. If he found out what she really was, who she really was, then that could be a very bad thing. "No," Haley said, "I mean, it's fine I can walk from here."

"I'm sure you can," Nathan said, "but just let me walk you. It'd make me feel a lot better."

"You really don't need to."

"Either we're gonna stand here and try and catch a cab, or you're gonna let me walk you home. One or the other."

Haley looked back at the busy street and then back at Nathan. "Fine," she said, "I guess you're walking me."

Nathan smiled before sticking his hand out and motioning for her to lead the way. She began to walk in the direction of her apartment and he followed after her. Their walk was mostly silent until she saw the large apartment complex come into view. He looked up at it and whistled in approval. "Wow," he said, "I've heard these apartments are really nice."

"Yeah," she said, "it's a good neighborhood and everything. I like it."

They walked through the sliding glass doors of the lobby and Nathan looked around. "I can see why."

Haley made her way to the elevator and Nathan followed with her. "I think it'd be a little much for me to ask to come up," Nathan said and looked down at the ground before looking back at her. "So I'm gonna say goodnight now."

"Ok," Haley said with a smile. "I had a great time tonight."

"Me too," he answered. "We should do this again. Soon?"

"Definitely," Haley answered before hitting the up button. The elevator doors opened and she stepped inside. She stood in front of the doors ensuring that they wouldn't close. Nathan took a step towards her and his eyes locked with hers. He subconsciously licked his lips before leaning down to place a kiss on her lips. Their lips met gently before he backed away again.

"Goodnight Haley."

She smiled at him and he took a step back. He was about to turn around and walk away again when Haley grabbed him by the arm. She pulled him back towards her and instantly his lips met hers again. He grabbed hold of bother of her hips and she wrapped her arms around his neck as they kissed fiercely. He pushed her back into the elevator and her back hit the wall.

She felt him run his tongue along the seam of her lips. Seconds later her mouth opened for him and their tongues met and dueled. He sucked her bottom lip between his teeth and bit her lip lightly. His eyes screwed shut when she moaned and ran her fingers through his hair, scratching his scalp gently.

They pulled away when air became necessary. "Ok," he said with a smile.

"Ok," she said back and laughed.

Nathan coughed to clear his throat and then stepped away from her and back out through the elevator doors. "Goodnight Nathan."

"Night Haley."

Haley laughed. "You've already said that."

"Right," he said, "well then goodnight again."

She smiled and stepped back into the elevator and pressed the button for her floor. Nathan watched as the doors closed and when they did he released a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding. He leaned back against the doors and ran his hand through his short hair. "Fuck," he mumbled before standing up straight and running both hands through his hair. "I'm so screwed."

**Please please please review! It would mean so much to me! And I'm really sorry again for the wait! I don't know why I'm having so little inspiration lately! But I'm really sorry. I'm trying to get an update for Feels Like Letting Go up. I had about 6 pages written and it got deleted and I'm really pissed off, but I'll re write it soon! Anyway, I hope ya'll like this chapter! Please let me know what you think!**


	7. Lights

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters**

**Thanks for the reviews ya'll!**

**Chapter 7: Lights**

_There was no better feeling than knowing that he just helped his team get to the finals. He felt so much pride within himself and it was something he wouldn't trade for anything. The day he'd been offered a scholarship to Duke was the best day of his life. Even his dad seemed proud of him. There were few times when Dan seemed genuinely proud of him. But that day, something was different. _

_Nathan stood in front of his locker in the locker room under the Blue Devils gym. The rest of his teammates had said their congratulations to him and ushered out of the locker room. Soon it was just Nathan standing in there. He pulled his jersey over his head and tossed it into a large hamper on the other side of the room. He pulled on a clean t-shirt that hung in his locker and he then began to unlace his shoes. He heard a sound from somewhere in the locker room and froze._

_His dad had always warned him to be careful. Now that he played for Duke, a lot of people knew who he was. And a lot of people hated his dad. Unfortunately, that made Nathan a target as well. Nathan knew what his dad did. He'd known since he was young. He never hid it from him. And Nathan knew that one day his dad wanted him to join him. _

_Nathan turned his head towards the noise and waited to see if one of his teammates would rejoin him. But they didn't. A minute later though, Nathan did see someone he recognized. Someone from his past. _

"_Hey Nate."_

_Nathan looked at his Uncle Cooper standing near the end of the row of lockers. He hadn't seen Cooper in years. The last time he saw him was before he moved to Chicago when Nathan was 15. Dan had recruited Cooper and Cooper was one of Dan's best agents. Deb hated that her brother still worked for Dan. After everything she went through with Dan, she couldn't believe that he would choose to sill work for Dan._

"_Coop," Nathan said looking at his Uncle. "What are you doing here?"_

"_I came to see your game," Cooper said and took a seat on the bench that sat between the long row of lockers. "You're a hell of a ball player."_

"_Thanks."_

_Nathan could tell that there was something else that Cooper needed to say. He doubted that he came just to watch him play. Why would he fly to North Carolina from Illinois? Not just because he felt like watching a basketball game. Not one that he could see on TV. None of this really made sense. Why would he just show up after years of being gone. _

"_Have you seen my mom?" Nathan asked. "I'm sure she'd be interested in seeing you."_

_Cooper laughed a little and ran his hand over his hair. "Yeah," he said, "I'm not so sure. You're moms still kinda mad at me."_

_Nathan nodded and then leaned back against his locker. "Yeah well you're still working for my dad so…" he trailed off and then looked up at his uncle. "That's why you're here isn't it?"_

_Cooper looked up at his young nephew and then stood up. "Nate, your dad did send me here-"_

"_Well whatever he has to say I don't really want to here it. You know, he moved to Chicago when I came here? He's never once bothered to come to a game or even call me. What kind of dad does that."_

"_You know he's busy Nathan."_

"_Don't defend him Coop. I know you hate him, too. Just cuz he's your boss doesn't mean you have to defend him."_

_Cooper sighed and then scratched the side of his head. He could tell this was going to be harder than he thought. He already knew it would be hard, but Nathan was even more stubborn than he remembered. _

"_You can go tell my dad that I don't want to hear anything he has to say."_

_Cooper took a few steps towards Nathan and he saw the hard set of Nathan's jaw. Nathan was pissed. "Look Nate, I came here because it's your time. I know that it's not a good time but-"_

"_No," Nathan said, "I'm not going with you. I have a life here. We just made it to championships. Things are finally good for me and you want me to give it all up?"_

"_Nathan, you know you don't have a choice."_

"_I do have a choice Cooper. I'm not going!" Nathan yelled then slammed his locker shut. The sound echoed through out the locker room and Nathan took a step back from Cooper. He clenched his fists at his sides. He could feel the anger shaking his body. _

_Who the hell did he think he was? What right did he have to send him here to tell him that he had to join the company. It wasn't fair. Nathan finally had a life of his own, one that didn't involve Dan Scott. And just when things were good for him Dan had to come back in and act like he was in charge of his life. He had no right._

"_I'm not going," Nathan said again, "you can tell my dad to fuck off."_

_Cooper sighed and rolled his eyes. "Would you quit being so stubborn? You know you don't have a choice in this Nathan. You always knew that this is what you were meant for. I get it, you love basketball. And you're good at it. Things are going great for you right now, I understand. But you don't know what this life could get for you."_

_Nathan turned around and faced his uncle. "I don't care-"_

"_Shut up for a minute," Cooper said. "Listen to me. This life gets you more than you could possibly imagine. All the money you could ever need. You'll go places that you've never been before. Besides, don't you want to help protect the family? Lucas and Brooke? Don't you want them be safe?"_

"_Leave them out of this," Nathan said._

_Lucas and Brooke had gotten married the year before. They lived in Tree Hill and Brooke was starting on her own fashion line. Lucas was trying to get a book published. Nathan knew that he was a good writer and Brooke was a good designer. Maybe all they needed was the financial backing. _

"_Think about it Nathan. With you working for your dad, you know he would have one of the best agents around. You know what you're capable of. You would be a great protection for your family. Don't you want that?"_

_Nathan clenched his jaw as he listened to the words his uncle was saying. The worst thing was, that they made sense. With all of the people that wanted to kill Dan, that meant that their family was always in danger. Nathan did want them to be safe. His brother, Brooke, his mom and Karen and Keith. He wanted them all to be safe. He would hate it if anything happened to any of them._

"_Yes."_

_Cooper smiled. "Then do it. Let's go to Chicago. Trust me Nathan, this is the best choice you could make for yourself. Just do it."_

_Nathan knew in that moment that he didn't have a choice. It had been made a long time ago._

"_Ok."_

Nathan continued to bench press the weight above him. He could feel the pain shoot through his muscles with every press but he loved that feeling. He couldn't help but love the pain. He knew that was sick. Who would love pain? But sometimes it was all he felt. At least he felt something.

As he continued to lift the weight he let his mind wander to Haley. Damn it, he shouldn't have kissed her. Now that was all he could think about. How her lips felt against his and how quickly her body reacted to his. The soft feel or her skin on his finger tips. Fuck, he was so screwed. He knew that the plan was to get close to her and then take her out, but now that he had kissed her, he couldn't stop thinking about her.

He was fucking stupid. What did he expect? Of course that happens when you get close to a beautiful girl. But she was more than just a pretty face. She was funny and smart and the fact that she could kick ass, he found that surprisingly sexy. He'd done his research on her. He knew that she'd killed some pretty big names. For such a little thing she must have been pretty powerful.

Nathan learned that she'd joined Andrew Jagelski's company when she was 19. And already she was his top agent. She even beat out Andrew's son. That was impressive. She must have been amazing if Jagelski chose her over his own kid.

He found many pictures of her that had been taken since she joined the company. It seemed that Jake Jagelski was in most of the pictures. They were, apparently, really close. Nathan let himself wonder, how close were they? Were they together?

He pushed the bar up again and placed it back before sitting up on the bench. He shook his head and cleared his mind of those thoughts. What did he care? Haley was just a job. Nothing more. She would never be anything special and he had to keep reminding himself of that. She was nothing. She would always be nothing.

"Wow," he heard from the door and he inwardly flinched at the voice. "I didn't know I had a daughter."

Dan Scott stood in the doorway of the gym. He wore a dark green sweat soaked t-shirt and a pair of black shorts. He held onto the ends of the towel around his neck. He walked farther into the gym and towards where his youngest son sat. "I would think you could bench twice that by now."

"I can," Nathan bit out.

"Well then why don't you?"

"Fine," Nathan said and laid back down on the bench. "Add more weight to it."

Dan smirked and added more weights to the bar and clipped them on. Nathan grabbed the bar above his head and lifted it again before bringing it to his chest and then up again. He did it over and over wondering when his father would be happy with him. Never, most likely. Nathan knew by now that no matter what he did, he was never good enough.

"You saw Lucas the other night?" Dan asked while standing above him.

Nathan muscled the bar up again and then back down. "Yeah. Him and Brooke."

"How's my granddaughter?"

Nathan scoffed, "you'd know if you ever bothered to see her."

"Watch your attitude."

Nathan shook his head before focusing back on the weight. He didn't really feel the need to have small talk with his father while he worked out. He didn't want Dan there in the first place. He was just a distraction. The voice in his head that told him he wasn't working hard enough.

Nathan pushed the bar back up and placed it back in the holder before sitting up and looking at his dad. "Satisfied?" he asked.

Dan smirked, "for now."

Nathan shook his head and stood up before walking towards the door. "Before you go Nathan," Dan said and Nathan turned around to look at him. "How's the case coming?"

"Great."

* * *

"I think I'm gonna ask her to marry me."

Haley looked up over her counter at Jake who was standing across from her. He was looking down at the sandwich in his hand and avoiding eye contact with her. "What did you just say?"

"I'm gonna ask her to marry me."

Haley let out a laugh. "Are you serious?"

"What?"

"Well for one," Haley started, "Nikki's a heinous bitch. Come on Jake, you couldn't seriously be thinking that you want to marry her."

Haley had hated Nikki from the day she met her. Jake thought he was in love with her, but Haley knew that Nikki just had him fooled. He had to know someone where deep down that he wasn't really in love with her. She was awful. Haley was convinced that she was an alcoholic. She was always out at bars with random guys and she had feeling that she was cheating on Jake.

"You need to give her a chance."

Haley scoffed and shook her head. She had given Nikki plenty of chances but there was really no use. She was a bitch and she was completely wrong for Jake. Haley wished that he could see that. What would it take to get him to realize that he would be ruining his life if he asked her to marry him.

"I have," Haley said looking at her best friend. "Can you please just give it some thought? Seriously Jacob. Just think about it for awhile before you do it."

Jake looked down and ran his hand over his head before looking up at her again. "I know you must be serious about this," he said and then a smile crept onto his face. "You only call me Jacob when it's serious."

Haley laughed a little, "this is serious."

"Ok," he said, "I'll think about it a little more. But really Haley, I think I'm gonna ask her."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. This type of discomfort only surrounded them when they were talking about things like Nikki. That was pretty much the only thing they had ever disagreed about. Normally, they were on the same page about everything.

"She's coming with us tonight by the way."

Haley's eyes narrowed as she stared at him with disbelief. He knew that she wouldn't want her there, why would he invite her on their night out?

"Really, Jake?" Haley asked, "why?"

"Come on, Hales. She's only here for the weekend and I want to spend as much time as I can with her before she leaves."

"I can't stress enough how great it is that she lives in LA. At least that way I don't have to see her that often."

"Be nice," Jake said with a scolding tone. "She's coming with us tonight Haley and I want my to best girls to get along. She's not that bad! Trust me, if she were I wouldn't be with her."

"Yeah," Haley said, "whatever."

She poured the rest of her lemonade in the sink before walking out of her kitchen to her bedroom. They were going out that night and she had to get ready. And now that Nikki was coming along, well, her night was definitely going down the tubes. She still couldn't believe that he would invite her along? He knew they hated each other. Why would he want to create an uncomfortable situation?

She walked into her closet and looked through her dresses. She didn't feel like getting too dressed up. She picked out a tight, black and gray striped sweater dress. It hugged her in all the right places but it was also comfortable. She stripped off her jeans and t shirt and pulled on the dress. It stopped about mid thigh. Back in high school Haley would have never worn something so tight and short. But, over the years since she'd started working for Andrew, she learned to embrace a different side of herself.

She was looking through her shoes trying to find the right pair to complete her look when she heard her phone ringing from in her room. She walked out to where it was sitting on her bed and looked down at the screen. She saw _Nathan_ flash across the screen and instantly her heart began to pound.

Her talk about marriage with Jake was the only thing that had kept Nathan off her mind in the past three days since their date. It was strange. Haley had never felt the way she did after a date with a guy. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it was completely insane. She wasn't allowed to feel anything for him. She wasn't even allowed to hate him. To her, he was just another case. Another name on a file. He wasn't allowed to become someone she would have feelings for.

She picked up the phone and hit the green button. "Hello."

"Ah," she heard from the other end. "So you are still alive."

Haley couldn't help the little laugh that had escaped her mouth. She had been avoiding Nathan's texts for the last couple of days. She hadn't planned on having anymore contact with him. Not like she had the other night. Her plan was to avoid him for a few days and then she would make her move. She would make plans with him that involved her going to his apartment. Then she would kill him. Right when he least excepted it. Just like she had done to Damien.

But, she was breaking her own rule and answering his phone call.

"Yes I am," she said, "I'm sorry I haven't been texting you back but I've been really busy with work."

It wasn't technically a lie. She'd been helping one of their newer agents train. It was something to do to keep her mind of Nathan.

"Oh I see, a workaholic."

"Exactly."

She heard Nathan clear his throat before asking. "Well what are you doing tonight? Do you wanna get some drinks or something?"

"I can't," she answered, "I'm going out with my friend and his girlfriend tonight."

There was silence on the other end of the line and she waited for him to say something else. "Oh," he said, "well what about tomorrow? Dinner?"

"Busy," she answered.

"Popular girl I guess," Nathan answered and she could hear the annoyed tone in his voice.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but what about next week, say Wednesday? I'll even let you cook me dinner."

"I'm not the best cook."

She smiled, "well that's ok. I can teach you."

She heard him chuckle before answering. "Alright, sounds like a plan. I'll text you my address later."

"Sounds good."

"See you then Haley."

"Bye Nathan."

Before he could say anymore she hit the end button on her phone. She turned around and saw Jake leaning against the doorframe to her room. He'd clearly been listening to her conversation. "What?" she asked and then grabbed her leather jacket off the end of her bed.

"Nothing," Jake said, "I mean, I know you like to do things your own way and everything but, don't you think you're becoming a little to close to him?"

"No," she said, "and you're right. I do like to do things my own way. Don't you worry about it."

She shrugged on her jacket as she walked past him and towards the door. She pet Lyla on the head once more before walking out of her apartment with Jake following behind her.

* * *

"Shot down."

Nathan turned his head and saw Owen sitting on his couch with a beer in his hand watching the TV in front of him. He'd been over for the past hour trying to convince Nathan to go out to the clubs with him. He told him he needed a wingman and of course that would be Nathan. But he really wasn't feeling it. He couldn't keep his mind off Haley and he thought maybe he would get a chance to see her. That was the point in the phone call. But she turned him down.

"Shut up."

Owen laughed again and shook his head.

Nathan tried to clear his head of any thoughts of her. He'd be seeing her Wednesday and that was enough for him. He didn't need to worry about her now. But still, even though he kept telling himself that he couldn't help it. He kept telling himself that he needed to just end this case. Then she wouldn't be in his head anymore. She would be gone and he would have nothing to think about.

"Well now that you're not doing anything," Owen began, "can we go out?"

"Can you stop saying it like you're asking me on a date?" Nathan asked as he grabbed a beer from his fridge.

"Funny," Owen said as he stood up and walked over to the kitchen. "But seriously, watching you sulk over being rejected is a buzz kill."

"Fine," Nathan said, "and just so you know, I wasn't rejected. I'm seeing her Wednesday. And also, it's not like she's my girlfriend, or even someone I want to become my girlfriend. She's just a case."

"Whatever you need to tell yourself. I mean I've seen her picture, Man. She is hot. I'd want that too."

Nathan rolled his eyes. For some reason hearing Owen talk about her like that didn't exactly sit well with him. But, he shook his head and ignored the comment before placing his beer back in the fridge. Maybe if he got out of his apartment, away from all the files he had on Haley, then he could finally clear his head. Maybe he could find a different girl for the night. Someone to really get his mind off of Haley James.

Nathan grabbed a black jacket from a coat rack by the door and slipped it on over his dark blue and white plaid shirt. He zipped it up before walking back into the kitchen and opening a bottom cupboard. He grabbed food for Max before filling his bowl. By the time he'd poured the food into the bowl, Max was already in the kitchen waiting to eat. He finished feeding him before walking towards the door where Owen was still waiting.

They made their way out of his building and into a cab. They sat in the back in silence as they waited for the driver to drop them off at the address that Owen had given him. When they stopped Nathan looked out the window at the club. It wasn't one he'd ever been to before. It looked like a giant warehouse.

They stepped out of the cab and walked towards the large building. The door was a giant sliding metal door that stretched the span of the side of the building. It was left open for people to come and go as they pleased. The music thudded loudly and Nathan could feel the beat moving around them.

The place was packed as they pushed their way through the throngs of people and towards a table in the back of the club. The large building was filled completely. In the middle of the club sat a DJ booth and Nathan glanced up at the DJ who was busy creating new beats for the club goers to dance to. Lights flashed quickly on and off changing color every few seconds. They went from red to pink then purple to blue to green then over again.

Nathan quickly located the bar once they'd found an empty table in the back. He shrugged off his jacket and then made his way towards the bar. Owen had already gone off to find someone to dance with for the night and he wasn't sure if he would be seeing him anymore that night. He wasn't sure how he'd managed to convince him to go with him tonight. Obviously, Owen was fine on his own.

When he made it to the bar he had to push his way through groups of people to get to the counter. When he finally did he managed to get his order for a beer heard over the loud music. While he waited he looked to his right and farther down the bar he saw her. Her hair was straight and it hung well past her shoulders. Her dress fit her well and it showed off all over her curves. He looked down at her legs and he noticed her tapping her high heeled foot to the beat of the music playing.

She looked even more beautiful than the last time he saw her. And her beauty was so effortless. She was just standing there, doing nothing and she was gorgeous.

When his beer was placed in front of him he thanked the bartender before making his way closer to her. She was staring off blankly and she hadn't even noticed him yet. He was soon just inches from her. He placed his hand on her back and felt her jump slightly before he leaned in and whispered in her ear. "I didn't mean to scare you."

The second Haley felt his breath on her neck and heard his voice she couldn't help the shiver that ran up her spine and the goose bumps that landed on her skin. He somehow had that effect on her. She didn't even need to turn her head and look at him to know it was him standing behind her.

"Well you did," she whispered back into his ear after she'd managed to turn around and face him.

Tonight he looked different. Less like he was trying so hard to impress her with his looks and the expensive brands he wore. The simple plaid shirt fit him to perfection and she took the time to take in the look of him in front of her. The fabric of his shirt stretched over the muscles of his arms and again across his chest. He wore a simple white t shirt under it and a pair of jeans with sneakers on his feet. She wasn't sure who could really look good in the harsh lights of the club that strobed over head, but somehow he managed it. She had a feeling he was the type of guy that could look good in any situation.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, "but I'm not sorry that I saw you here."

Strangely, she was glad that he was here. To say that she was having an awful time with Jake and Nikki would be an understatement. She and Nikki had been doing nothing but insulting one another since they saw each other. Jake, of course was stuck in the middle of the fight between his best friend and his girlfriend. Haley felt bad for a minute, until she remembered that Jake was the one who had put them in this situation. Instead of arguing anymore with Nikki, Haley had opted to spend her night at the bar with her good friend, vodka.

"I am too," Haley replied. "Really glad actually."

Nathan smiled as he continued to watch her. The song that had been playing ended before a new one started up. He had never heard it, it was some sort of dubstep song that he wouldn't have ever listened to, but when it started he watched Haley's eyes light up a bit. "I love this song," she said over the loud music. "Well," she began again, "I love the original, this is the remix."

He smiled before giving her his hand, "come dance with me."

She took his offered hand before walking farther out into the sea of people. Soon she felt his hands grab her hips before pulling her body back against his. She took the initiative and began to sway her body to the beat of the song. Lights by Ellie Goulding had been one of her favorites from the first time she heard it.

Being in Nathan's arms again felt right. Kissing him had felt right. But it was wrong. It was all so wrong. She would be killing him in a few days so she could begin to have any feelings of the sort. But in that moment, with this song playing, with his firm hold on her and with a little help from the vodka she'd had earlier, her mind was clouded from any thought that told her it was wrong.

Nathan looked down and watched as her lips moved and he realized she was singing the words of the song. He couldn't help but smile. Everything she did was beautiful. They continued to dance, her body feeling perfect against his, yet again. He brought up one of his hands and pushed her hair away from her neck before leaning down and places kisses along the column of her neck. She smelled so sweet and he wanted nothing more than to be able to take her, right then and there. He didn't care who was watching.

She turned around and her lips met his. He instantly cupped both her cheeks in his hands and deepened their kiss. He felt her tongue begging for entrance to his mouth and he instantly granted it. He only pulled away when air became a necessity. He grabbed her by the hand and led her toward the door of the club and out the front. He walked them around the building and when he reached a spot that was free of people he gently pushed her back up against the wall.

She didn't care that they were outside a crowded nightclub, she didn't care that it was snowing out and it was freezing, she didn't care that she was supposed to kill him. All she cared about was that he didn't stop kissing her.

Nathan stared into her eyes and he felt like he could never look away. His hand was cupping her cheek again and his thumb ran over her bottom lip before he leaned down and took it gently between his teeth causing a moan to fall from her lips. Soon he was kissing her again and she was sure that was a feeling she could easily become addicted to.

His lips parted from hers again only to move down to the neck once more. "I've been thinking about kissing you since the other night," he mumbled against her skin. She leaned her head back against the brick of the building behind them as she let herself be taken away by the feelings he was causing. "I can't think of anything but you."

Her eyes snapped shut as he kissed her lips again. She felt his hands run down the side of her body. They ran from her sides around to her back and she arched her body more into his. Her arms were wrapped around him, one hand gripping his hair tightly, the other running down the muscles of his back over the fabric of his shirt. "I can't either," she mumbled against his lips.

They pulled away from each other again to get more air. His hands continued to run over her body. He noticed the goose bumps on her body, but he wasn't sure if it was from the temperature, or from his hands. He rested his forehead against hers while they both panted. He let his eyes travel down to her kiss swollen lips and he couldn't help but lean in again and kiss them. He could have kissed those lips forever and been very happy.

"I wanna see you tomorrow," he whispered as he moved to take her earlobe between his teeth. He felt her shiver again and he couldn't help but smirk. He knew, that was because of him.

"Can I?" he asked a moment later before placing a lingering kiss on her cheek.

Her mind was completely fogged thoughts of his kisses. She couldn't form a coherent sentence, so all she could do was nod.

Before she knew it he was back to kissing her lips. His tongue parted her lips and she felt it meet hers. They played softly and she knew that all the kisses they shared tonight were better than the one they'd had before. And that surprised her.

"Haley."

Nathan and Haley were broken apart by the sound of a harsh voice. Haley turned her head and saw Jake standing a few feet away from them. Nikki, of course was standing behind him with a smirk on her face. Haley wanted to yell in frustration at the sight of her best friend.

Nathan recognized him instantly. He was Andrew's son Jake. He'd seen him in many pictures with Haley. Nathan always assumed that there was something going on between them, but now it made sense. This was the friend she'd talked about on the phone earlier. But that really didn't matter right now. Nathan was too pissed to care who this guy was. All he wanted to do was tell him to fuck off.

"Jake-" Haley began but she was cut off.

"We're leaving," Jake said as he took a step closer to them. He reached for Haley's arm and pulled her away from Nathan. "Come on," he said as he handed her jacket.

Nathan wanted to say something, anything that might keep her from leaving with him. But he didn't know what to say. He felt like he'd just been caught making out by his girlfriend's father. And now, all he felt was anger. He watched her being taken away from him. He watched as Jake ushered her into a cab and then she was gone.

He yelled out in frustration before slamming his fist into the brick of the building beside him. "Fuck!" he yelled in anger. The sting of the intense pain didn't even seem to bother him at the moment. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that he'd let himself get carried away with her yet again. One thing was incredibly clear, he needed to end this. And soon.

**So I hope ya'll like this! I'm sorry if these chapters seem kinda boring, I'm trying to give more background information on Nathan and Haley. But I would really love to know what you think about this! **

**Also the song for this chapter is Lights by Ellie Goulding. It's great, listen to it if you haven't.**


	8. Too Deep

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters**

**Ughh so I'm going through another "everything I write is crap" phase so please bare with me. I'm really sorry for the wait on all my updates ):**

**Chapter 8: Too Deep**

"Never take your eye off the target. Keep your hands as steady as possible. You'll know when it's the right time to pull the trigger. You can feel it. Now, when you're ready… shoot."

Samantha Walker pulled back on the trigger of the gun in her hand. The shot rang out through out the shooting range and she watched as the bullet soared through the air through the paper target. Soon a bullet hole was now straight through the heart of the target. Sam smiled to herself before lowering the gun back down to the table in front of her.

"How was that?" she asked turning around to face Haley.

Haley smiled brightly and then crossed her arms over her chest. "That was great! You're really getting the hang of this!"

Sam had just turned 18 and so now it was her time to join the company. Her family was deeply rooted into it and now she would be too. Her brother was an agent, one of the best in company. Her parents had gone through training with Haley's parents, same with her Aunt and Uncle. Haley was sure that Sam was going to be something great.

When Andrew had come to Haley and asked if she'd be willing to train Sam, she accepted quickly. She knew that she would be even busier now; training didn't come fast. Plus, she had Nathan to be worrying about.

She had really been stupid when she allowed herself to get that close to him the other night. She knew that he was dangerous. He, after all, was Dan Scott's son. He was supposed to kill her boss. If he found out who she was, he would try and kill her too. She had no doubt about it. That's why she had to kill him first.

That meant she had to stop herself from getting closer to him. She wasn't going to let herself fall for him. Not anymore than she already had. She had to tell herself it didn't matter that he was handsome, funny and a great kisser. None of that matter. He was a job and she had to take him out. Sooner rather than later.

Haley had been avoiding him for awhile. Ever since that night at the club. She couldn't believe she'd gotten so carried away.

Every time Nathan called her she ignored it. It would only going to make things harder if she had seen the next day. Then she would want to see him again, and again. She couldn't do that. It was too dangerous to get that involved. She'd already crossed a line too many times.

"You think?" Sam asked with a smile on her face.

"Yes!" Haley replied, "it took me forever to get the hang of a gun."

"I know," Sam said with a small laugh, "my brother told me about it."

"Of course."

When Haley joined the company Andrew had assigned Jared Walker, Samantha's older brother, to train Haley. At the time Jared had been the best agent the company had. He probably still was. He was 21 when Haley met him and he was already one of the best. And he had taught her well. Without him she was sure she wouldn't be half as skilled as she was.

After her training was finished Andrew sent Jared to Washington D.C. on a special assignment. He'd been there for the past four years. She hadn't even seen him since he moved. There were days when his name would be mentioned somewhere in the office and it would catch Haley's attention, but she had still yet to see him since she was 18.

"How is he, by the way?" Haley asked.

"Jared?" Sam asked, "he's doing pretty good. He's actually moving back up here in a few days. I guess Andrew called him and told him he needed him here."

"Really?" Haley asked and nodded. "I guess you and you're family are pretty happy to have him back?"

Sam laughed and nodded. "My mom more than anyone. She's already got his apartment all set up for when he gets back. She's planning this huge family dinner for him too. I swear, she acts like he came back from the dead."

Haley smiled and nodded. She could understand why her mom was so excited. Haley knew that her mom would have done the same thing if she had been gone for years, too. But Haley didn't want to think about her mom. Not right now.

"Ok," Haley said, "we're almost done for the day but we should go run."

Sam groaned and dropped her head back before looking back up at Haley who laughed at the younger girl's reaction.

"Just two miles today."

Sam nodded, "yeah, _just_ two miles. Not all of us like running Haley."

Haley laughed, "I know but it's good for you." She smiled at the young girl before turning to walk out of the range. They walked through a heavy metal door before walking towards a doorway that lead to another set of stairs. They walked through that door and up a few flights. Haley opened another door that lead to a large indoor track that circled the gym. They walked over to the starting line and Haley unzipped her hoodie before dropping it to the ground.

"Think you can beat me today?" Haley asked looking at Sam.

She smiled, "I know I can."

"Alright," Haley replied, "let's do it then."

They lined up at the beginning of the track and then started to run their laps. Haley really did love running. It was the only thing that seemed to take her mind off work for awhile. When she was running she didn't have think about her job, she didn't have to think about her family, she didn't have to think about anything. She wished she could do that more often.

* * *

Nathan sat on the couch in his living room with a beer in his hand. This was the first day he hadn't been in the office or in the gym. And he hated it. If he wasn't doing something then all he was doing was thinking about Haley. And then that made him think about how she clearly wasn't thinking about him.

She hadn't answered any of his calls or returned his texts. He felt like a loser. The night at the club he had told her that he wanted to see her the next day and before they were interrupted, she was about to agree. But now she was avoiding him.

He shook his head and took a sip of the beer in his hand. He was such a pussy. This wasn't even a girl that he was trying to date. Not really. She was an assignment. He should have just killed her when he had the chance. Now he was too caught up in it. He couldn't let that happen again. It had already happened before. And that had been the hardest assignment to date.

But he had a feeling that if he let this go any farther, this case would be the death of him. He could not fall for Haley James. That just wasn't in the cards.

He grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels until he landed on HBO. There was a marathon of Entourage. This was exactly what he needed to keep his mind off her. Maybe spending the day with Vinny and The Boys would keep Haley James out of his mind.

He'd sat through at least four episodes before he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw her name flash on the screen. He contemplated just letting it ring. Letting her feel the way he'd been feeling for the past few days. But then he remembered she wasn't his girlfriend. And he didn't need to be such a girl about this.

"Hello?" he said after a few rings.

"Hey," she replied from the other end of the line. "How are you?"

He tried to keep himself from becoming to excited, he tried to just play it cool. "I'm alright."

"Great," she said, "look I'm sorry I've missed you the past few days. I've been so swamped with work and… everything."

"That's fine," Nathan said, "just glad you finally called me back."

"Yeah, I felt so bad about missing you."

"It's fine."

There was another moment of silence before Haley spoke up again. "Look the reason I'm calling is because wanted to reschedule dinner. I mean if you still wanna make me dinner sometime that is."

He smiled and then said, "yeah, I'd like that a lot."

"Great!" she said happily.

"How about tonight?"

"Oh," she said, "I can't tonight, I'm busy."

Nathan nodded. Of course she was busy. She was always busy. "Gotcha. Hot date or something?"

She laughed a little. "Oh you could say that. I promised to take my brother to dinner tonight and then to a movie. I haven't seen him in a while."

"Oh," he said feeling a little better knowing that she really didn't have another date or anything like that. "Well then what about tomorrow?"

"I'd love that. Why don't you text me address later and a time that works for you."

"Alright, I will."

He smiled thinking about seeing her again but then shook his head. He needed to stop this now.

"Ok, sounds good. I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Bye Haley."

He hung up before she said anything else. He dropped his phone to the couch before drinking down the rest of his second beer. Focusing his attention back on the TV he decided to not think about her anymore that night. He knew that was going to be one hell of a challenge.

* * *

Haley sat in the booth of the Italian restaurant watching as her little brother texted on his phone. He seemed a lot more interested with whatever was on the screen than talking with her. Not that she really blamed him. He was a thirteen year old boy.

She fidgeted with the hem of the tablecloth and then looked around the restaurant. It wasn't too crowded but the hum of other conversations could be heard around her. But it was mostly silent at the table she and Adam occupied. He'd barely spoken a word to her since she'd picked up at their grandparent's house.

"So," she said, "how's school been going? Nana told me that you made honor roll."

"It's pretty good I guess," he said and then looked up at her.

Every time she looked at him she saw so much of their dad in him. They had the same eyes and facial structure. It was almost hard to look at him.

"Good," Haley replied, "I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks," he said with a hint of a smile before picking up his phone again. She watched as he continued to text while she looked around the restaurant. She noticed a family in the corner. They had two kids, a teenage girl and a young boy. They looked like a completely normal and perfect family. She envied them.

"What are you staring at?" Adam asked after taking a sip of the soda in front of him.

Haley turned and looked back at him. "Nothing. Sorry."

He shrugged before leaning back into the booth. "Tell me stories from work," he said after a minute.

"It's not really that interesting."

"Come on!" Adam said, "you kill people for a living! There's gotta be some cool stories!"

"Adam," Haley scolded, quickly looking around to see if anyone had heard what her little brother had said. He really didn't need to make that announcement in front of other people. And besides, she really didn't want to tell him any stories from work. The last thing she wanted was for him to think it was cool and then want to do the same thing.

"What?" he asked, "it's true."

"I don't really have any cool stories. And besides, you don't wanna hear about my work anyway."

"Yeah I do," he answered, "Grandpa told me about it. I mean if I'm gonna join in a few years I wanna know about it."

"You're not," she said harshly. "Nana and Grandpa wouldn't allow that, and neither would I."

"Why not?" Adam asked.

"Because!" she said and then pushed her hair behind her ears. "Please Adam, just drop it."

He stared at his older sister and he tried to think of what to say that might get her to crack and tell him some things from work. But he knew that she was mad. He could see it written across her face. He looked away from her when their waiter came and put a large pepperoni pizza on their table. Haley thanked him before grabbing the two plates on the end of the table and handing one to Adam.

He grabbed a slice of pizza before folding it in half and taking a bite out of it. She smiled thinking how that was the same where their mother used to eat pizza. It was weird how little things he did were just like their parents. It was strange seeing so much of them in someone who barely got the chance to know them.

"Why are you staring at me?" Adam asked after a minute

Haley laughed a little. "Sorry. I was just thinking about some stuff."

Adam shrugged again before asking. "So what movie are you taking me to?"

"Well that depends," she replied and smiled, "what do you wanna see?"

"Hmm," he said thinking about it. "Well Paranormal Activity just came out. Can we see it?"

"A scary movie?" she asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah! Come on Haley! All of my other friends already saw it, I'm the only one who hasn't yet."

"I don't know Adam…"

"Please?" he begged and jutted out his bottom lip for affect.

Haley groaned and looked down at her hands. "Fine. Just don't tell Nana that I took you to an R rated movie. She'd probably kill me."

Adam stuck his hand out to her from across the table for her to shake it. "Deal."

* * *

Nathan stood in the kitchen looking at his apartment. Haley was supposed to be here any minute and he wanted to make sure everything was spotless. He normally didn't bother to clean up when girls came over. It wasn't like they were usually paying much attention to whether or not his apartment was clean, and, those other girls weren't Haley. For some reason he felt the need to impress her. Not that it really mattered.

It was hard for him to remember that she wasn't really a girl he was trying to date. But, the more time he invested in her, the more he needed to remind himself of that fact.

He turned and walked back into the kitchen. He was supposed to be cooking for her tonight and he wanted to make sure everything went well. He'd gone to the store and bought everything he would need to make lasagna. It wouldn't be as good as Karen's, but he was still willing to try.

There was a knock at the door and he felt his heart freeze in his chest for a minute before going to answer it. He grabbed the knob and threw the door open. He was disappointed when he saw that on the other side it wasn't Haley. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Owen laughed and shoved his way past Nathan into the apartment. Nathan shut the door behind him and sighed before turning around to look at his friend. He racked his brain trying to remember if there was a reason that he would be here. He knew that they didn't have plans… so what the hell was he doing here?

"What? I can't drop by my friends apartment?"

"No, not tonight you can't."

Owen walked to the fridge and pulled the handle. He looked at the shelves and then grabbed for a Heineken. He popped the cap off the bottle before taking a swig of the beer. He could tell by the look on Nathan's face that he was pretty wound up. But he couldn't understand why. It wasn't like Nathan to get like this over some girl.

"Seriously?" Nathan said and then leaned back against the counter. "You need to get the fuck out."

"Jesus, what jumped up your ass?" Owen asked before placing the bottle down. "I just want to see this girl. I'll be outta here as soon as I see her."

"No." Nathan went towards the door and opened it, waiting for Owen to get up and leave.

"Come on, I just wanna see if she's as hot in person as she is in her picture. I didn't get to see her the other night."

Nathan rolled his eyes and then slammed the door. "Why do you have to be the biggest pain in the ass? I swear, sometimes you're worse than Brooke."

He walked back into the kitchen and double checked again that everything was perfect for when Haley got there. Everything was in the right order, except for Owen. If he would leave, then everything would be fine. But he was stubborn. He probably wasn't going anywhere until she got there.

Nathan was once again broken out of his thoughts when there was a knock on the door. He felt frozen in his spot. He glanced toward the door but still made no move to go answer it.

"Want me to get it?" Owen asked with a laugh.

"Shut up," Nathan said before rolling his eyes and walking towards the door. He grabbed the knob and twisted. When he opened it he saw her standing on the other side. It seemed that she got more and more beautiful every time he saw her. She stood in front of him in white hoodie and a pair of dark washed jeans with a pair of white sneakers on her feet. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun on the top of her head. She was without a doubt the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen.

"Hi," she said with a smile.

"Hey," Nathan replied and then stepped out of the way to let her in.

When she walked through the door she immediately saw Owen standing in the kitchen. She'd done her research on him and she knew who he was the second she saw him. He worked for Dan and she instantly felt threatened when she saw him standing there. Why was he there?

Her eyes shifted back and forth between Nathan and Owen. Her heart was beating a little faster in her chest and she couldn't stop her mind from wondering if this was some sort of set up. Part of her wanted to reach for the gun she kept in her purse.

Nathan watched her face and then cleared his throat. "Uh, Haley, this is Owen he's a friend of mine. We work together."

Owen walked across the kitchen and then stopped when he was in front of her. He stuck his hand out to her and waited for her to take it.

She glanced down at his hand before taking it in hers. Her heart was still beating a little faster than she would have liked. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Owen replied before dropping his hand back down to his side. He looked away from her and then back to Nathan who was watching the scene in front of him. "Well I'm gonna take off. I'll see you tomorrow, Nate."

Haley watched as he went towards the door and she could feel herself calm down a little when he disappeared through the door frame. On the inside she was kicking herself for being that nervous. She didn't like showing fear, or even just feeling it inside herself. That wasn't who she was.

Nathan shut the door and turned around to face her again. "Sorry," he said, "I didn't know he was stopping by."

"No worries," she replied.

They were stuck in an awkward silence before Haley looked past him and into the kitchen. "So," she began, "what are you making me?"

Nathan smiled before turning around and walking into the kitchen. "I thought I might make you some lasagna."

She smiled before following him into the kitchen. "That sounds perfect," she said, placing her hand on his arm while looking at the ingredients that were laid out on the counter. Nathan smiled down at her before going to grab a bottle of wine that he'd set out and two glasses.

"Do you mind if I use your bathroom?" Haley asked.

Nathan shook his head. "No. It's down that hallway," he said pointing in the direction of the bathroom.

"Thanks."

She smiled at him again before walking towards the hallway. As she walked down the hallway she slowed down when she realized she was passing his bedroom. She checked over her shoulder and saw that Nathan was still distracted in the kitchen. She took a cautious step into the room and then looked around.

His large bed sat in the middle of the room against the wall. The curtains on the windows were open letting the lights from the city shine through the window. There was a large dresser next to his bed with paper work stacked neatly on top of it. She walked towards the dresser and checked over her shoulder again before starting to look through the paper. It wasn't really anything interesting. It looked to be mostly financial forms for another company that she'd never heard of.

She sighed before turning her attention to something else. She pulled open the top drawer and started to go through it. It was mostly just t-shirts and wife beaters, until she got to the bottom. There was a 9 millimeter handgun laying in the bottom of the drawer. She picked it up and saw that N.R.S was inscribed on the butt of the gun.

Staring at the gun in her hand was like a harsh reminder of what he was. He wasn't some guy that she was going out with. He wouldn't hesitate to kill her. It was his job to kill people, just like it was her job.

She heard a loud banging noise and jumped slightly before placing the gun back in his drawer where she'd found it. She closed it quietly before hurrying towards the door. When she made it back to the kitchen she saw Nathan picking up pieces of shattered glass and she hurried over to help him.

"What happened?" she asked with a chuckle.

"I shouldn't be allowed in a kitchen," he said while picking up the larger pieces of the broken wine glass.

She stood up and grabbed a hand full of paper towels from near the sink before mopping up the wine that was now on the floor. "It's ok," she said with a smile, "not everyone should be. Apparently you're just one of those people."

Nathan laughed a little. "I guess."

The cleaned up the mess before standing up. Haley looked at the counter and then said, "so do you want me to help you make this?"

Nathan smiled, "that would be nice. I'd probably find a way to ruin it."

She stood up on her toes and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Then I'll help you."

* * *

Haley sat on the counter while Nathan pulled the lasagna out of the oven. "See," she said, "it wasn't that hard."

"Not for you," he said and then walked so he was standing in front of her. "I guess you're just more talented than I am."

"Oh I don't know about that."

He smiled before leaning forward and placing a kiss on her lips. He missed kissing her. It had only been a few days since he'd kissed her that night at the club, but it felt like too long. He didn't want to go days without kissing her again.

Haley's hands when to his shoulders and she pushed him away a little. She rested her forehead against his. "It's gonna get cold."

"We can heat it up," he said and then moved to kiss her again. His hands moved to her hips and he pulled her closer to the edge of the counter and closer to his body. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her fingers delved into his short dark hair. His tongue slid into her mouth and she moaned as it met with hers.

His hands ran up her back and she couldn't help the involuntary shudder that ran over her body. "I want you so much Haley," Nathan mumbled against her lips.

"I want you too," she replied but somewhere in the back of her mind she was yelling at herself to stop. This was too wrong. She couldn't do this. But she wanted to so bad.

Nathan's lips moved down to her neck and he placed a series of kisses down her throat. Her head dropped back against the cupboard behind her and her teeth dug into her bottom lip. He placed one more kiss on her neck before bringing his lips back to hers. Their lips met again and she parted her lips for him but he pulled away when he heard his phone ring from out in the living room.

"Damn it," he said angrily. He took a step away from her and then went into the living room to find his phone. When he picked it up he saw Peyton's name flash across the screen. He rolled his eyes before picking it up and placing it to his ear.

Haley could hear the aggravated tone in his voice as he talked on the phone. She sighed and jumped down off the counter before grabbing the two plates that Nathan had set out and walking over towards where he'd placed the lasagna. She grabbed a spatula and cut two pieces out of the noodles and put them on the plates.

As she walked them out to the table she watched him throw his phone down on the couch. "Sorry," he said, "that was just work."

"Oh," she replied, "it's fine. I hope it's ok I got this ready," she said motioning to the plates she had placed on the table.

"Yeah," he replied, "of course."

They both sat down at the table and started to eat in silence. Little did they know that the same thoughts were both rushing through their heads. They were in way too deep.


	9. 99 Problems

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters**

**Chapter 9: 99 Problems**

Haley sat on the edge of Jake's desk waiting for him to return from his meeting with his father. It felt like she hadn't seen him since the night she went out with him and Nikki, and that night didn't exactly go so well. He was less than happy with her after he saw her with Nathan. She'd actually never really gotten a reaction like that out of him. He was acting like her father.

He told her she was being irresponsible and was going to get herself killed if she wasn't careful. Didn't she knew that Nathan Scott killed people for a living? Haley couldn't help but shake her head as she thought about that conversation again. Didn't Jake know that Haley also killed people for a living? He should have known better than to worry about her so much. She could take care of herself.

But she didn't want to fight with him. That was why she was there in the first place. She hated when things were weird between her and Jake. He was her best friend and the only person in the world she felt like she could trust, if things were bad with him, she would have no one. She had to make sure things were ok with them.

After having sat there for a few more minutes, she looked up when the door opened. Jake walked through the door in a pair of jeans and black button up shirt. He paused when he saw her sitting there, obviously having not expected to see her. "Hey Hales," he said and then shut the door behind him.

"Hi," she said back and then hopped off the edge of the desk.

He walked around the desk and then took a seat in his chair before putting a few files that had been in his hand in the top drawer. After shutting the drawer he looked back up at her and then smiled slightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I haven't seen you in awhile," she started, "I mean a long time for us, ya know? I just thought I'd make sure we were ok… that you aren't still mad at me."

"Oh."

Haley sat down in the chair across from his desk and folded her hands in her lap while looking at him.

"You are, though… aren't you?"

"I'm not mad Hales," Jake said with a shake of his head. "I just wish you would be more careful. You think you're untouchable Haley, but you're not. You're still human and you could still get yourself killed. I mean that's what he does Hales, he kills people."

"I know that."

She thought back to when she was in his apartment searching through his drawers. She couldn't get the image of his gun out of her head. She also couldn't shake that feeling that she got when she saw Owen in his apartment. She'd never felt more threatened than she did in that moment. But Jake didn't need to know about that. If he knew he would give her that look that she hated, the "I told you so," look.

A few more minutes of awkward silence passed while Jake tried to busy himself with things around his desk, like turning on his computer and typing in the database password. Finally he looked back up at her and he smiled again. "I'm not mad at you," he said again, "I just worry about you Hales. I love you and I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"I know," she replied with a smile of her own. "And don't worry. Nothing's gonna happen to me. I promise. And I love you too by the way."

"You better."

Haley couldn't help but smile at her best friend. She was glad that he wasn't mad at her and part of her was glad that he worried about her. Lately it felt like they'd been drifting apart. Part of that was because of Nikki, partly it was because of work. It was nice to hear that he still worried about her just as much as she worried about him. She never wanted to lose the relationship she had with Jake and it sounded like it wasn't going anywhere.

"So," Haley began, "how was the meeting?"

Jake shrugged his shoulders. "Fine. It was kind of a welcome back meeting."

"Welcome back meeting?" Haley asked.

"Yeah," Jake replied, "Jared's back."

"Oh yeah!" Haley replied, "Sam told me he was coming back to town."

"Yeah. I guess whatever my dad had him doing in D.C. is done and he needs him here now. But mostly it was kind of a kiss my dad's ass fest."

Haley kinked an eyebrow at her friend. She knew that Jared was never his favorite person, but she didn't really understand why. Jared was one of the nicest guys she'd ever known but Jake had never really taken to the guy.

"What is it with you and him?" she asked.

"He's never done anything to me, I just don't like the way everyone treats him like he walks on water. He's just a normal guy."

"Are you jealous?" Haley asked.

The news of Jared coming back to Chicago had spread around the office like wildfire. Everyone was so excited that he would soon be here again. For the past week all she really heard was how amazing he was. Not that that was something she didn't already know. But Haley could understand why that didn't sit well with Jake.

She knew that Andrew loved Jake, he had always been an amazing father to him and Jake's needs always went above his own. But Jared impressed Andrew, why else would he have sent him to D.C. for an important job? Why wouldn't Jake resent the fact that his father was entrusting someone besides him with something like that?

"Of course not."

Haley nodded before changing the subject. "Anyways," she began, "what else is knew? I really feel like I don't know anything about your life lately."

"My dad assigned me to a case."

"He did?" Haley asked. She couldn't help but be surprised. Andrew normally kept Jake away from the action. It was normally his job to do the research for other cases, and that was something Jake was good at. He was known as the hacker in their department. But he'd never really been assigned to a case where he would be the person to take someone out.

"Yeah," he replied. "His name is Ian Banks."

Haley nodded before leaning in towards his desk. "Yeah," she replied, "I think I've heard his name before."

"You probably have. He's been all over the news. Major drug trafficking and kidnapping charges. The amount of people he's killed… he's a monster."

"How did this fall on us?" Haley asked. She'd heard of Ian Banks but she knew that there was no tie to Andrew or anyone in the company.

"His uncle actually came to us."

"His uncle wants him killed?"

Jake nodded before leaning back in his chair. "David Banks runs a huge company in Los Angeles and Ian's been working for him since around the time we started here. But I guess over the years he's started to go a little crazy. He's been drawing major attention to the business. He thinks that he's the one who owns it and that there's all these people working for him. He's schizophrenic and he's been making up all these people in his head that he claims work for him."

"He's a liability," Haley said with a nod of her head

"Exactly. I guess the last straw for David was when Ian almost beat his girlfriend Maggie to death. He claimed that she was keeping all these secrets about the company from him and he just snapped and started beating her. It's amazing she made it."

Haley shook her head. "Why doesn't David just do something himself?"

"He doesn't want to betray family himself by having him killed by someone in the company."

"But he can have someone else from here kill him and keep his conscience clean?"

"I guess so."

"He sound's dangerous."

"He is. This is a huge case for us."

"A huge case for you," Haley said. "Keep yourself safe?"

"Only if you do the same?"

Haley smiled and stood up. "I will Jacob." She smiled one more time before turning around and walking towards the door of his office. All the while she couldn't help but think about everything that Jake had just told her. It didn't sit well wit her that Andrew had assigned Jake such a hard case. It wasn't that she didn't believe he was a good enough agent to handle it, it just didn't sit well with her.

She shook her head trying not to think about it as she walked down the hallway. She was about to turn towards her own office when she collided with someone coming around the corner. She felt herself falling backwards from the impact but before she could hit the ground the person she'd collided with grabbed her by the arm before pulling her back upright.

"I'm so sorry," he began, "I wasn't paying attention."

"It's fine," Haley replied before pulling her arm out of his grasp. She pushed her hair behind her ears and tried to get the blush of embarrassment off her face before looking up at the man in front of her. When she did she was surprised to see who it was.

His dirty blonde hair was still cut short and his green eyes were still the same dark shade she'd remembered. It appeared that he'd shaved that morning, his five o'clock shadow hadn't made it's appearance yet. He was dressed in a pair of gray dress pants with a gray button down shirt of a lighter tone and a red tie around his neck.

"Jared!" Haley said happily after a few seconds more of stunned silence. She knew that he was back but she didn't think this was how she would see him again.

A smile spread of her his face and the dimple in his left cheek appeared. "Haley James," he said and then took in her appearance. "Should have known it was you right away. Still a bit of a klutz I see?"

She smacked him lightly on the arm. "I am not as bad as I used to be!"

"I'd hope not," he said with a laugh.

His laugh was the same as she remembered and it stirred up something inside her heart when she heard it. She shook her head of those thoughts before smiling at him again. "It's great to see you," she said.

"You too," Jared said. "Look I'm supposed to go meet my parents for lunch, but do you think maybe you'd wanna get something to eat tonight? You know to catch up?"

"Yeah," Haley agreed, "I think I'd like that a lot."

"Great," Jared said, "I'll get your number and address from the receptionist and I'll call you when I get out of lunch."

"Sounds perfect," she said with a smile.

He put his hand on the top of her arm before giving it a light squeeze and smiling at her. "It was so great running into you," he said before letting out a quick laugh. "Literally."

Haley laughed and ducked her head down feeling herself blush before looking back up at him. "I'm really glad you did."

He smiled before telling her again how he would call her later. She watched him continue towards the elevators before heading towards her office. She couldn't wait to get dinner with him later, but at the same time, she couldn't stop herself from thinking of Nathan in the back of her head.

* * *

"Please Nate?" Brooke begged while leaning on the other side of the kitchen counter in Nathan's apartment. "I'm just asking you for one date here! If you really don't like her then I'll never set you up with anyone else ever again."

"Yeah right. I've heard that one before."

"Please Nathan! She's knew in town and she doesn't really know anyone and she's really pretty and I totally think she's your type."

Nathan sighed before looking up at his sister-in-law, who'd come to his apartment just to beg him some more to go out with this girl from the store. "What's her name?"

"Rene," Brooke answered, "so…. Will you do it?"

"Fine," Nathan answered.

He really didn't want to go out with this woman. The only girl he wanted to be seeing was Haley, but he had to remind himself they weren't in an exclusive relationship, they were barely in a relationship at all. She'd made that pretty clear when she was at his apartment the other night.

It had started by her saying that she wasn't really looking for a boyfriend. He couldn't deny the fact that that one hurt a little bit. But she quickly followed that statement with saying that she really liked him and wanted to keep having fun with him. If she wanted fun, he could definitely do that.

Let's be honest. A girlfriend wasn't really what he was looking for, especially not from Haley. It was his job to kill her and he didn't really like the idea of killing his girlfriend. If keeping that label out of their relationship kept him from killing his girlfriend, then that was fine.

"Thank you so much!" Brooke yelled excitedly. "I'm sure you'll love her!"

Yeah, he'd heard that before.

* * *

Haley stood in front of the mirror looking at her reflection. She was wearing a tight black skirt that went to mid-thigh and stopped just above her belly button. Pulled on a cream colored camisole and then a matching colored flowly lace shirt. She slipped into a pair of nude colored heals and pulled her hair into a half back. Her make up was left natural and she applied some gloss to her lips.

Right then she heard a knock on her door and she hurried to go answer it. When she pulled the door open she saw Jared standing on the other side. He was now dressed in a pair of black dress pants and a light blue button up. He smiled when he saw her and he couldn't help but think she looked amazing. "Hi," he said and let himself take in her appearance again. "You look… amazing."

Haley blushed at his words. "Thank you, so do you."

Part of her couldn't help but think that he probably always looked amazing. Anytime she'd ever seen him he'd looked amazing. Even after their long training sessions when they were both covered in sweat from the long work outs, somehow, he still looked perfect.

"Come in," she said and opened the door wider. "I just have to grab my coat."

She walked back towards her room before grabbing her long black coat off the end of her bed. When she came back she saw Jared crouched down petting Lyla's head. "Looks like you made a new friend," she commented.

"I love dogs," Jared said, "I would get one, but my complex doesn't allow pets."

He stood up and brushed any hair that Lyla had left on him off his pants. "So," he said, "are you ready?"

"Yes," she said before following him towards the door.

They made their way to the elevator and down to the lobby. When they reached the door Jared pulled it open for her and they both walked out into the cold. She could feel the shivers beginning to take over her body as they waited for a cab. When one finally pulled up Jared once again opened the door for her.

They climbed inside and she listened as Jared gave the driver instructions to where they would be going. The ride there was filled w a comfortable silence. That was something she'd always shared with Jared. They had the ability to not say anything when they were together, but still manage to have a good time.

When the pulled up Jared opened the door after paying the driver. When he got out he extended his hand to her to help her walk to the door. He was sure that walking in those heels wasn't easy, and definitely not when there was so much snow on the ground.

They walked inside N9NE and Jared walked up to the hostess stand. Haley couldn't tell what he was saying to her but she noticed the way she smiled at him before grabbing a few menus for them. Jared motioned for Haley to join them as they began to walk towards their table.

On the way to their seats Haley suddenly heard her name being spoken. She turned her head in the direction of the familiar voice and felt her heart skip a beat when she looked at his face.

Nathan sat in one of the black booths just a few feet away from her. She instantly noticed how great he looked and her heart raced as he looked at her with those dark blue eyes. But then she noticed the blonde sitting across from him at the table.

She wore a tight read dress and her shoulder length blonde hair was curled. She was also very beautiful. Even Haley could admit that. She had hazel colored eyes and her skin held a natural tan. Haley hated her the second she laid eyes on her.

"Nathan," Haley said, the tone in her voice told him that she was taken off guard by him being there. She was even more surprised by his date.

A few seconds passed by and they continued to stare at each other, his date looking back and forth between them. Suddenly Haley felt a hand on the small of her back and she turned and saw Jared standing next to her. "Haley," he said, "our table's ready."

Haley smiled at Jared before turning back to Nathan. "Enjoy your dinner."

She smiled tightly before turning to follow Jared back to where their table was. She took a seat in the black leather booth while Jared sat across from her. She couldn't help but look up and see that Nathan's table was right in her line of sight. Perfect. Watching him and his date for the rest of the night was exactly what she was hoping for.

* * *

Seeing Haley was unexpected to say the least, but seeing her with that guy, that made his blood boil. What was she doing there with him? Was that a date? The way he put his hand on her back sure made it look like a date.

This night had already been one straight from hell, but now that he had to see her with that guy, it made it worse. Rene was less than a great date, not that he was surprised. Brooke really didn't' know what his taste was at all. If she did, he would have set him up with Haley.

She had done nothing but talk about herself all night. In the course of an hour he'd learned all about her childhood. How she had two older brothers and a younger sister and how she'd been named homecoming queen in high school. As far as Nathan could tell that was her greatest accomplishment to date. And it seemed that she had no goals in life past getting a job at Clothes Over Bros.

He'd pretty much tuned out by the time she started talking about her days in her sorority during college. He could really give a shit about Phi Gamma whatever. While she talked he let his eyes wander towards Haley's table.

He watched as she laughed at whatever that guy was saying. It made him sick. Whatever he was saying must have been great because she couldn't stop smiling and laughing. _Yeah_, he thought, _we get it. He's funny_. He clenched his fists in his lap while he watched them. The worst part of the whole thing was, he looked exactly like the guy Haley should be with.

He didn't know anything about this guy, he didn't even know his name, but he knew he was making her laugh and he knew they looked like a couple. He wondered how they looked when they were together. Did people think they were a couple when they saw them?

Nathan shook his head and turned his attention to his food in front of him. Right now he really had no appetite for the pork chop placed in front of him. And the wine he'd been drinking all night wasn't really sitting well with him either.

"Is your food ok?" Rene asked. The first time she'd bother to ask anything to do with him all night.

"Uh, yeah. It's fine, I'm just not that hungry."

"Really?" she said while chewing her halibut. "You couldn't stop talking about how hungry you were on the way here."

He'd only said that because he was trying to get her to talk about something besides herself. But that hadn't worked at all. She had agreed with him before going back to talking about her college days.

Fuck my life.

He watched as Mr. Right brought his hand to rest on top of Haley's on top of the table and Nathan had to try really hard to keep the scoff from escaping his mouth. And maybe it had.

Rene turned to look over her shoulder in the direction of where Nathan was looking. She saw that girl that had talked to Nathan earlier and her date. Nathan had practically been staring at them all night and he was barely listening to a word she was saying. Who was this girl?

"Who is that?" Rene asked.

"What?" Nathan asked finally focusing his attention back on Rene.

"That girl. Who is she?"

"She's uh," he began. How did he explain who she was. _Oh, she's just some girl that I'm supposed to kill, but I haven't yet because I'm kind of dating her, and that's her boyfriend?_ "She's just a friend of mine."

"Oh," Rene replied, "her boyfriend's kinda cute."

Thinking of that guy as her boyfriend was really starting to piss him off. "Whatever," Nathan replied before looking back at Rene. "So," he started, "keep telling me about that sorority of yours."

* * *

Haley laughed as she and Jared talked about old times. She had never really thought about how many memories she had with him. But he really was a huge part of her life, that she would never forget. He'd taught her so much when she entered the business and she'd missed him while he was away. She just hadn't realized it until he was back.

"I'm so glad you came out with me Haley. It's nice to have a good friend here."

Haley smiled, "of course. I'm glad you asked me."

She looked up towards Nathan's table when she saw him and his date stand up walk towards the door. Nathan's eyes locked with hers before he made his way out with that girl standing next to him. Haley turned her attention back to Jared, trying to forget about Nathan for a little while.

Jared turned and looked at Nathan leaving before turning back to Haley. "Who is that?" he couldn't help but ask.

"He's uh," Haley began trying to think of something to tell him. But then it occurred to her that she didn't have to hide anything from Jared. "He's actually a case I'm working on right now."

"Oh," Jared said, understanding evident on his face. "No wonder you seem kind of on edge."

"Yeah," Haley agreed, she was definitely on edge with him being in the same restaurant with his date. That was really not something Haley was hoping to see tonight. Not to mention the fact that she didn't really want him to see her with Jared. She wondered if seeing the two of them together was effecting him as much as seeing her with that girl was.

"How long have you had him?" Jared asked referring to Nathan as her case.

"About a month."

"Seems like awhile for you. I thought you usually took care of things pretty fast?"

"Yeah, this is just different."

"How?"

"I guess I want Dan Scott to take it really personally."

"That's Dan Scott's son?" Jared asked. "wow. He's had a hit out on Andrew for awhile."

"I know," Haley replied, "and I assume Nathan's the one who's supposed to take care of it. And I want Dan to be scared. When Nathan's dead, he's lost his best agent and his son. And when Dan's dead, his whole company's just gonna crumble."

"So you're drawing it out, to scare Dan?"

"Yes."

She didn't think it was necessary to mention the fact that she might have been drawing it out a little bit because part of her didn't want to kill Nathan. Jared didn't need to know that.

Haley felt a vibrating in her purse and she instantly went to grab it. She always had her phone near her just in case it was an emergency. There was always a risk that someone she loved could be hurt or in danger and she always wanted to make sure that she never missed an important call.

She pulled her phone out of her purse and saw that it was just a text message. A text message from Nathan. She slid her finger across the screen and tapped in the code, Adam's birthday, to unlock her phone.

_When you're done with him, come over._

That was all the text said and she couldn't ignore the feeling of her heart beginning to race. As much as she was happy to be sitting there with Jared, part of her wanted to night to end, just so she could see Nathan.

* * *

When the taxi pulled up in front of her building Jared got out and opened the door for her. He gave her a hug as they stood in front of the door. "I'll see you tomorrow probably," Jared said before saying good night and getting back in the cab. Haley waved him off before walking towards the door to her building. She saw that his cab was gone and turned around before sticking her hand out trying to wave another one down.

After a few failed attempts she finally got one to stop. She climbed in the back and told the driver to go to Nathan's apartment building. After about 15 minutes they pulled up in front of the large apartment complex. She looked up at the building before releasing a shakey breath and walking through the doors.

She walked towards the elevator and pushed the button for his floor. When she reached the floor the doors slid open and she began to the walk down the long hallway towards his apartment. When she stopped in front of it she waited a few seconds before knocking on his door. After about a minute the door opened and Nathan stood on the other side. He smirked when he saw her.

"I knew you'd come."

Haley rolled her eyes before pushing him out of the way. She walked inside his apartment and into the living room. He watched her take a seat on his couch and he smirked again before shutting the door and walking towards her. He stood in front of her and she looked up at him before leaning back against the cushions of the couch.

"Why did you want me here?" she asked.

"You know why," Nathan replied. He brought his knee up and kneeled next to her on the couch. He watched her bite her lip as she watched him. He let a genuine smile spread across his lips as he brought his hand up to tangle in her hair.

"Are you gonna kiss me or not?"

Nathan smiled again before leaning down and resting his forehead against hers. His lips were centimeters from hers and he could feel her warm breath against hips lips. He subconsciously licked his lips before pulling away slightly. He leaned in again, this time his mouth by her ear. "I have a better idea," he said before standing up.

Haley's mouth fell open as she looked at him. "What?" she asked in disbelief.

Nathan smirked and stuck his hand out to her. She took it and he helped her stand up and he continued to hold her hand as they began to walk towards the door. He stopped long enough to pick up a basketball that sat on the ground next to the kitchen island. He caught the confused look that Haley threw in his direction.

"Just follow me."

He lead her back down the hallway towards the stairs. They entered the stairwell and began to walk up the steps until they stopped at a door that lead to the gym. Nathan pulled out a key and unlocked the door. They walked through the gym and towards another door. When he opened this one she saw that he had brought them to a basketball court.

Floor to ceiling windows lined one side of the court and Haley could see the view of the city. It seemed that all the lights in the city were on tonight. And the snow that continued to fall just made the view even better. "This is amazing," she said as she continued to stare out the windows.

Nathan came up behind her and placed a kiss on her neck. "It is isn't it?"

She turned around and smiled at him before placing her hands on her hips. "But I have feeling you didn't bring me up here to show me the view."

"That's correct," Nathan answered.

"Ok. So what are we doing up here?"

"I thought maybe we could have a shooting contest," he said while holding the ball in both hands before motioning to the hoop behind them.

"Oh yeah?" Haley asked.

"Yeah," he replied, "but I wanna make it interesting."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Interesting how?"

His trademark smirk came up and he started to explain. "For every shot that I make, you have to take off one piece of clothes. For every shot you make, same rules apply to me."

She kinked an eyebrow as she stared at him. "You know what?" she said after a minute, "I'm in."

Nathan bounced the ball towards her and she caught it in her hands. "Great," he said, "but I should warn you… I'm pretty good."

"Yeah?" she asked and then walked towards the hoop, "well I should tell you… I don't suck either."

"Well ladies first."

Haley smiled at him over her shoulder before bringing the ball up past her nose. She tried to forget that he was standing behind her as she shot the ball towards the hoop. She watched it bounce on the rim before going through the hoop. She caught it as it bounced back at her.

Nathan nodded his head before slipping his shoes off his feet. "Not too bad."

Haley shrugged and tossed the ball at him once he was done removing his shoes. He squared up at the hoop and shot it, also watching it sore in effortlessly. Haley rolled her eyes before doing what he'd done and slipping off her shoes. It felt great to finally get out of those heels.

They continued on taking shots with the ball, soon both of them stood on the court in their underwear, their clothes strewn about around the court. It was again Nathan's turn and he stood in front of the hoop at the three point line. He twirled the ball in his hands, preparing to take the shot, but he froze when he felt her hands slide up his back.

She noticed the shiver that ran through his body as she pressed herself up against him. She stood on her toes and leaned towards his ear. "Don't mess up."

He heard her giggle a little before repeating those words again. "Is it just like a high school game now?" she asked.

Nathan laughed, "yeah, except I really am in my underwear this time."

Nathan focused back on the ball in his hands and he was about take the shot when he felt her lay something over his shoulder. He looked down at his shoulder and saw the lacey black bra she'd been wearing now placed over his shoulder. He smirked and said, "that's a major distraction."

"Show me you can make the shot," she whispered in his ear. He shook his head trying to get over the fact that he could feel her chest pressed against his back. He brought the ball up and shot it towards the net. It bounced on the rim then tipped over the side and back to the ground. He couldn't believe he'd missed it.

The ball rolled along the ground and Nathan shook his head in disbelief. When he turned around he saw Haley standing a few feet away from him. She was still standing in her black lacey underwear that matched the bra that was now laying on the floor of the court. She had the ball in her hands in front of her chest. "Looks like you lose."

Nathan shook his head before walking towards her. When he stood directly in front of her she dropped the ball to the ground and Nathan took in the sight of her nearly naked body in front of him. "I don't even care," he said, not able to take his eyes off of her.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body flush against his. Her lips collided with his and his tongue instantly sought entrance to her mouth. She let out a moan when their tongues met and began to duel for dominance.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and her fingers began to run through his hair. He gently lowered them to the floor while continuing to kiss her and she couldn't' help the shiver that ran through her body as she felt the cold hardwood of the court touch her skin. He pulled his lips away from hers when they needed air and he then rested his head against her shoulder.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered before placing a kiss on her skin. "Do you know that?"

"I like to hear you say it," she whispered back.

They laid in the middle of the court in silence for a few more minutes before Nathan spoke again. "Who were you with tonight?"

Haley brought her hand up to run through her hair. "His name's Jared. He's an old friend."

"Looked like a boyfriend."

"He's not," she reassured him, even though she knew part of her had used to wish he was.

"Good."

"We're not dating either," she said, "I thought we agreed on that. You're not allowed to get jealous."

Nathan shook his head. "Tell me you weren't jealous when you saw me with Rene tonight."

Haley shook her head. Rene. So she had a name. "You're allowed to date whoever you want."

Nathan shifted his weight so it rested on his arm near her head. "I'm not dating her."

Haley nodded. "Ok."

He smiled slightly before leaning down and placing a kiss on her lips again. It didn't take long for their hands to begin to wander each other's bodies and for things to begin to escalate. Nathan pulled away again and stood up. "That's it," he said before tossing his shirt at her to quickly slip on. She watched him pull his pants back on before looking back at her.

"What?" she asked wondering why he was stopping them again.

"I need you. In my bed. Right now."

**Hey ya'll! Sorry for the delay on updates lately I've been pretty sick and have been at a lot of doctors appointments. Luckily it's nothing serious but I may be getting my gall bladder out soon so I don't know when I'll be updating again, so please bare with me!**

**Also, I've noticed a lack of reviews on my stories and I hope people aren't losing interest in my writing. I also want to say that even though the show's gonna be ending soon doesn't mean I'm gonna stop writing OTH stories. I love the characters too much and they're what inspired me in the first place so I won't just stop writing them, and I hope you won't stop reading them!**


	10. Stripped

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters**

**Thanks a ton for the reviews on the last chapter ya'll! I'm glad there was such a response to it! And this chapter is pretty much all Naley so I hope ya'll can appreciate that! **

**Also thanks for everyone's concerns regarding my health. I had my surgery on Wednesday and everything went well so I should be fully recovered pretty soon!**

**Chapter 10: Stripped**

Nathan practically threw the door to his apartment back open causing Max to sit up and bark a little before realizing it was Nathan who was entering through the door. He had a firm grip on Haley's hand as they stumbled through the door. He used his foot to kick the door shut behind them before pinning her up against the wall. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she pulled him back to kiss her again.

The few minutes between them being on the basketball court to now seemed like a blur. She wasn't sure how they ended up like this. First they were just kissing and then he was telling her that he wanted her in his bed. And she couldn't deny the fact that that's where she wanted to be. She couldn't hide that anymore. All thoughts of the case, or of Jared were far from her mind.

He pulled his lips away from hers and began to drag them down her neck. He found a particularly sensitive spot on the base of her neck and he went to work on marking her as his. When he finally pulled away from her neck he looked back up at her face and his eyes locked with hers.

He'd never really taken the time to stare into her eyes. They were the most beautiful pair of brown eyes that he'd ever seen. They were so dark but he could make out the flecks of green in them. He felt like he could stare into them forever.

Haley could feel the shiver run through her body just from the intensity of his stare. No one had ever looked at her like that and she felt like she didn't know how to respond. It was almost unnerving, but she didn't want it to stop at the same time.

He finally broke his eyes away from hers and his hands busied themselves undoing the buttons on his shirt that she was now wearing. He slipped each button through their holes, revealing her skin to him little by little. When it was finally all the way open he pushed the material off her left shoulder before placing a kiss there.

Her hands slid down from around his neck and down the bare skin of his back. Her hands splayed out against the firm muscle she found there before continuing down to the top of his pants. She brought her hands to the button and quickly popped it open before drawing down the zipper.

Nathan's hands covered hers and he pushed his pants down before stepping out of them. He stood in front of her in his black boxers and she was now just in his shirt and her black lacey underwear. Nathan looked her up and down before licking his lips. He grabbed at the back of her legs before hoisting her body up like she weighed nothing.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and attached her lips to the side of his neck while he maneuvered them down the hallway towards his bedroom. She couldn't help but giggle a little as he crashed into various things on his way. When the reached his room he quickly dropped her on the center of his bed.

He couldn't stop staring at her as she laid on top of his bed. She looked so beautiful and he didn't even know how to begin to tell her that. He wanted to, but no words were coming to him.

Haley sat up and moved towards the edge of the bed. Her legs now hung over the edge and she opened them a bit so that Nathan could stand between them. Her hands went to his hips and she pulled him against her. Soon she laid back against the mattress, this time taking him with her.

She shivered when his hands began to peel the shirt off of her. He pulled her up a bit so he could get it all the way off before he dropped it to the floor next to the bed. She let out a moan when he began to plant kisses all over her chest. Her fingers gripped his hair tightly and his name fell from her lips when he captured her nipple between his teeth.

Nathan gave equal attention to both breasts before kissing his way back up to her lips. When he captured her lips again he felt her hands slide down his back to the waistband of his boxers. Her fingers dipped under the hem before beginning to slide them down his legs. He could feel her using her feet to continue to push them down.

He sat up a bit and shook them all the way off his legs. He couldn't help the smirk that came to his face as he watched Haley's eyes taking him in. He couldn't really say that that wasn't the reaction he was hoping for.

Haley couldn't tear her eyes away from his body. It was absolutely perfect. It was actually unfair how amazing his body was. Finally she drew her eyes back up to his face and she shook her head when she saw his trademark smirk plastered to her face. "Wipe that look off your face," she said.

Nathan laughed a little. "I'm sorry, but I'm just glad you like what you see."

She used her palms to push herself up off the mattress so she was now standing in front of him, just centimeters from him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his hands went to her hips where he began to pull down the lacey black material. He finally got them all the way down and when they reached her ankles she stepped out of them.

They were both now fully aware of where things were headed. But what came as a shock to both of them was that it didn't seem to matter. Nothing mattered in that moment. As far as they were concerned they were the only people on the planet and there wasn't a case or a job to worry about.

Nathan's eyes swept over Haley again before their eyes connected again. This was the first time all night that she saw a nervous smile appear on his face. "You ok?" she asked quietly.

Nathan shook his head before replying, "I can't stop thinking about how beautiful you are."

She could feel a blush begin to cover her skin and she was glad that it was dark in his room and he couldn't see it. She smiled at him before standing on her toes and pressing another kiss to his lips.

He picked her up again before placing her on the head of the bed. He crawled on top of her and braced his weight on both his arms on either side of her head. His eyes once again locked with hers and he couldn't stop looking into them. Everything about her was perfect and he wished he could stare at her forever.

She brought her hand up to brush against his cheek before tangling her fingers in his hair once again. "Hey," she said, trying to gain his attention once more. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

He placed a lingering kiss on her lips before smiling. "How can you not already know the answer to that?"

"Ok," she said, "then show me what you want."

He reached over to his night stand before opening the top drawer. He fished around inside before finding the condoms he'd been searching for. He sat up on his knees and tore the package open before sliding it down his stiff erection. He then focused his attention back onto Haley.

Nathan slid his hands up her thighs before gently pushing her legs apart. He could tell just by looking that she was ready for him. He leaned back down and felt her wet center touch him for the first time and he couldn't help the groan that slipped from his mouth. He brought a hand between their bodies and guided himself to her entrance.

Haley's eyes connected with his as he pushed into her. They both released loud moans of satisfaction at the feeling of being connected. Haley felt like she could hardly keep her eyes open, the pleasure was already taking over her body. She could feel him rocking back and forth inside of her and she was powerless to stop the sounds that were coming out of her mouth.

Nathan grunted when he felt her wrap her legs around his waist, bringing him deeper inside her. "You feel amazing," he said before releasing a strangled groan as he felt her squeeze him.

So many sensations were running through her body and she felt like she couldn't focus on anything. The only thing that mattered was Nathan and how he was making her feel. She ran her hands back down his back, feeling the layer of sweat that was already covering his skin. She gripped the muscles there and moaned as he hit a particularly sensitive spot inside her.

"Nathan," she moaned, "don't stop."

He looked down at her face and saw the way she was biting into her bottom lip to keep from screaming too loud. That made him want to go harder and faster, made him want to get her to scream his name as loud as she could. His eyes drifted down her body and he watched the way her breasts moved with each thrust. He ran his hand up her side from her hip until he reached her breast. They were the perfect size and her skin was so soft. God, her body was perfect.

He leaned down and attached his lips to the base of her throat again, but this time he began to mark another spot, next to his previous one. He had a feeling that she wouldn't be too happy about those later, but he really couldn't bring himself to care. He wanted people to know she was his now. He especially wanted Jared to see that.

"Don't you dare mark me," Haley said breathlessly. She knew that saying that wouldn't change things, but if people saw these marks, she didn't know how she was going to explain them.

"Too late," he said with a husky tone to his voice. He lifted his head again so she could see the smirk that was present again on his lips. But his mouth soon dropped open in a moan as her muscles began to contract around him. "God you're so tight."

Haley could feel her orgasm coming. Her whole body was beginning to tingle and she felt like she couldn't hold it off anymore. She felt every nerve in her body begin to spark as she contracted around him tightly. "Nathan!" she moaned loudly, louder than she had been all night, as she felt her climax finally hit.

Nathan loved the way she screamed his name as she came. It was perfect. Everything about her was perfect. And feeling her release had definitely spurred his own. He could feel it all through his body. Every muscle tightened up before the coil finally snapped and he felt his release hit. Her name fell from his lips in a loud groan before his body collapsed against hers.

The only sound that now occupied the room was the sound of both of their heavy breathing. When Nathan's breathing finally returned to some what normal he slowly moved himself off of Haley. He didn't miss the groan of disappointment when he pulled out of her. He stood up and walked over to the attached bathroom to dispose of the condom.

Haley draped her arm over her body, suddenly feeling entirely too exposed now that he was gone. When he walked out of the bathroom she couldn't help but blush, he was so comfortable just walking around naked in front of her, and she was already feeling self conscious.

Nathan crawled back onto the bed beside her and he could see the way she was nervously gnawing on her bottom lip and he saw her attempt to cover herself. "What are you nervous about?" he asked before placing a kiss on her shoulder.

Haley shook her head. "I don't know."

He placed a kiss on her lips before reaching for the top of the covers. He peeled them away from the bed and made room for her crawl under them before he did the same. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her body flush against his. "You're amazing," he whispered, "everything about you is amazing."

Haley smiled before looking up to meet his eyes. "Well, you're not so bad yourself."

He smirked before placing a kiss on her forehead. He could feel sleep beginning to over take his body, and as much as he wanted to just be there in the moment with Haley, he felt like he couldn't fight it off. But in that moment he couldn't think of a better way to fall asleep, then with her in his arms.

* * *

Haley's eyes slowly opened and she realized it was still dark in the room. She sat up a bit and looked over Nathan's sleeping form to where a clock sat on his nightstand. She saw that it was only a little past three, she'd barely been asleep two hours.

She focused her attention to Nathan sleeping beside her and suddenly the severity of the situation hit her. It hit her like a ton of bricks. She'd had sex with Nathan. Nathan Scott, the man she was supposed to kill. What the hell had she been thinking? In what world was this situation going to have a good ending? It wasn't. She'd just made the biggest mistake of her entire life.

She could feel her heart racing in her chest. She had to end things, and it needed to be now.

She lifted the blanket up and moved her body away from Nathan's. She walked around to the other side of the bed and found his shirt that she'd been wearing earlier and slipped it back on. She buttoned a few buttons before tip toeing out to the front room. She saw Max sleeping by the couch, and she crept past him towards where she'd dropped her purse when she'd gotten there earlier.

She picked it up and opened before fishing around inside. She found the same dagger that she'd used on Damien. It was again wrapped in cloth. She unwrapped it slowly and stared down at it in her hand. She shook her head and took a deep breath before walking back towards Nathan's bedroom.

She saw him still sleeping, with a relaxed, peaceful look on his face. She continued to walk towards him with a firm grip on the knife in her hand. She knew she could just plunge it in, just like she'd done to Damien and it would all be over. Quick and simple.

But as she stared down at him, it occurred to her that this wasn't so simple. Nothing about this was really simple. The idea of killing him made her sick. She was suddenly overwhelmed with a nauseous feeling and she hurried out of the room and back to where her purse was. She quickly wrapped the dagger back up and dropped it back into her purse.

She didn't know if she should walk back in there, or gather her clothes and leave. Part of her felt like she couldn't be in there anymore, like it was suffocating her to be in there, but part of her wanted to snuggle back up next to him and fall asleep and try to pretend nothing happened.

Finally she began to drag her feet back towards his room. When she did she walked as quietly as she could back towards his bed. She was almost to the end of the bed when she heard his voice. "Hope you're not trying to sneak outta here."

Haley looked up at him quickly and let out a nervous laugh. "Of course not."

"Good," he replied sleepily. "Now get your ass back in this bed."

Haley smiled before continuing around to the other side. She lifted the covers again and crawled in next to him, but she kept a bit of distance between them. Nathan shook his head before rolling over onto his side. He wrapped his arm around her again and pulled her body close to his.

Her mind was still reeling and she felt like she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep again. Not with all these thoughts racing around in her brain. "Stop it."

Haley turned and looked at Nathan, whose eyes were still closed. "What?" she asked slightly confused.

"Whatever it is you're worrying about, just stop it."

It amazed her that he could know that much about her already. How could he know things like that without even looking at her. It scared her how easily he could read her. She felt like she was completely stripped down to the bone and everything was out there for him to see. She'd never really felt like that before.

* * *

Nathan stood in the kitchen looking at the ingredients spread out in front of him. When he woke up Haley was still sound asleep next to him. He had snuck out of bed quietly before throwing on a pair of sweats and walking out to the kitchen. He quickly began to look around his kitchen checking to see if he had everything he needed for chocolate chip pancakes. When he found them all he spread them out along the counter.

He was trying to do anything to keep his mind from wandering. He really didn't need to think about the repercussions of last night. But it kept sneaking back up into the forefront of his mind. He was in way too deep with this. The last time he'd let himself get too involved in a case, it had nearly killed him.

The idea of something like that happening again… it was too much. He never wanted to feel the way he did after that case. It had been over 2 years, but the memories were still there.

That case hadn't been like this one, it was a simple, easy case, but he'd let himself become friends with his target. He had promised that he would never do something like that again. He was breaking that promise again.

The idea that he could kill her now had crossed his mind. She was sleeping and he could end it quickly. He could put the silencer on his gun and take her out, or he had a multitude of kitchen knives that would get the job done. But the idea of killing her… part of him would have rather killed himself first.

He looked up from the stove when he heard the sounds of soft footsteps coming from down the hallway. He watched her come around the corner, still dressed in his shirt. He loved how she looked in it, he knew that she looked better in it than he ever would. Her hair was now tied up in a messy bun on the top of her head, some of her blonde hair was down framing her face. She looked so incredibly beautiful.

"Morning," he said with a smile. "You sleep ok?"

She nodded and crossed her arms over her chest before walking into the kitchen where he was standing. "Good," he replied. He could tell that something was bothering her, just by the far off look in her eyes, it must have been the same thing that was bothering her during the middle of the night.

"You hungry?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Starving," Haley replied with a nod of her head.

"Good," he replied, "that means I did good last night."

She didn't miss the smirk that appeared on his face as she looked at her. She wanted to shake her head or roll her eyes but she couldn't. He definitely had done good last night and he knew it and she couldn't deny it.

"Someone's full of themselves," she joked before standing up on her toes and placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Yeah," he replied, "but you're not arguing with me so I know it's true."

"Whatever."

Nathan laughed before handing her the spatula that was in his hand. "Can you watch this?" he asked. She nodded and watched him walk over to the cupboard before getting two plates and two glasses. He brought them over to the table before walking back into the kitchen.

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He placed a few kisses on her neck before focusing on something on the back of her neck. "How long have you had this tattoo?" he asked.

He'd noticed the large dream catcher tattoo on the back of her neck the night before on the basketball court but he was too distracted to ask her about it.

"Since I was 18," she replied.

She didn't really want to go into details about it at the moment. And she didn't want to talk about the one on her ribs either. He placed a kiss on her cheek and she felt him run his hand up under the shirt until he reached her ribs. He pinched her a bit causing a giggle to escape her lips. "And this one?"

"20," she replied.

He could tell by the tone in her voice that she wasn't in the mood to explain them, but he would press for more details later. "I like them."

He ran his hands back down until he got to her hips and he slid them farther down to her ass. She couldn't help the laugh she released when he squeezed her. She turned around in his arms, his hands still firmly in place. "Did anyone ever tell you, you have a serious ass Haley James."

"No actually," she replied with a smile before pressing her lips to his. It was so easy for her to get distracted by him. She let him kiss her back for a little bit before she remembered the pancakes on the griddle. "They're gonna burn."

"Who cares?" Nathan replied while placing more kisses along her neck.

"I do," she said with a laugh before pushing him away. "And you shouldn't walk around without a shirt on. You're too damn sexy."

Nathan watched her finish making the pancakes before putting them on a plate and bring them out to the table. He realized that he really loved having her there with him in the morning, and anytime really. But that meant that this was just going to be harder when he finally had to end things.

* * *

Nathan jogged down the street with his iPod blasting in his ears. He was trying to think of anything but Haley, but again that was proving to be difficult. But this time he wasn't thinking of how he was supposed to have killed her. Now all he could think about was the way she looked in his bed, or when she was wearing his shirt.

And his newest memory was the way she looked in his shower. It had taken some convincing to get her in there with him, but it was well worth it. Except for the fact that now that was all he could think about. He was so consumed with thoughts of her, it had to be unhealthy.

Was she even thinking about him this much? He doubted it. Part of him felt like he felt stronger feelings for her than she did, or ever would for him. But that shouldn't have mattered. But he couldn't get the voice in his head that said it did matter to shut the hell up.

He felt like the biggest idiot. He wished that he could just turn off his feelings for her. Make them all go away. He would do it in a heartbeat if he could. That would fix everything for him. But now it was too late to deny that he was crazy about her.

He'd never felt like this about anyone. He felt like he'd let her see a part of him that he'd never shown any woman before. He let himself be vulnerable with her and he let his guard down around her. Which was the dumbest thing he could ever do. He had brought this whole thing on himself.

He hated himself for falling for her, he hated her for being so perfect, he hated his dad for assigning him to this case. And to top it all off, he hated that Jared guy. He knew that he really had no fault in this situation, but he hated him too.

The fact that he came across as Mr. Right or Mr. Perfect really pissed him off. He couldn't stop picturing them at the restaurant and how they looked like a perfect couple. She looked like she belonged with someone like that and that really got under his skin. He wished he could track down that guy and tell him that his time with Haley was done. But he had to keep reminding himself, his time with Haley was almost done.

Nathan reached his apartment building and slowed his pace. He stopped in his tracks when he saw someone sitting on a bench outside his building. It was really the last person he expected to see.

"Coop," Nathan said pulling his headphones out of his ears before walking over to where his Uncle was sitting. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," Cooper began, "I came to see my nephew. You know see how he's been. I stopped by the office this morning and they said you hadn't been in yet and you were probably still here so I thought I'd drop by."

"Yeah?" Nathan asked, "how long you been here?"

"Long enough to see you with Haley James."

Nathan suddenly felt like a teenager who was caught with a girl he wasn't supposed to be with. Which was basically the situation, except he wasn't a teenager. But how did Cooper even know about Haley?

"How do you-"

"You think I haven't been keeping tabs on you?" Cooper asked before standing up and walking closer to his nephew. "You're my nephew. I've been having Peyton keep me up to date on your cases."

"Why didn't you just ask me?"

"Like it would have mattered? Would you have told me you're fucking her?"

Nathan's jaw clenched at his uncle's words. That wasn't anyone business but his and Haley's. "Cooper-"

"Shut up Nathan," Cooper began. "I can't even begin to explain to you how stupid this is. You need to end this case and end it soon. Trust me."

"What would you know about it?" Nathan asked angrily.

"A lot more than you might think."

Nathan shook his head. "I'm not a kid Cooper. I don't need you or my dad telling me how to do my job. So if that's why you're here you might as well leave."

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into Nathan. Get outta this. Finish this case and clear your head. You need to remember what your job is. Forget about some chick who's gonna be dead in a matter of days anyway. Because if you can't get the job done… you know Dan will find someone who will. And they might not be so nice about it."

Nathan shook his head at the idea of someone hurting Haley. It made him sick to think about. If anyone hurt her, he didn't know what he would do.

"I'm gonna take care of it," Nathan said in a quiet but still harsh tone.

"You'd better," Cooper said before walking past his nephew and towards the end of the sidewalk. Nathan watched him whistle for a cab and it didn't take long for one to stop. And just like that he was gone again. And Nathan was left with his words ringing in his ears.

**Please review! I know this isn't the longest chapter but I wanted to get something out for ya'll and I hope you liked it! I also suggest you listen to Stripped by Shiny Toy Guns.**


	11. Get Some Sleep Tonight

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters**

**Thanks for the reviews! I'm so sorry for the wait! Our computer crapped out but we finally got a new one so then it was just a process of getting everything moved over to our new one. Anyway, hope ya'll enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 11: Get Some Sleep Tonight

Haley sat at her desk in her office twirling a pen between her fingers. It wasn't often that she actually came into the office to do work, but for some reason she felt like she couldn't get anything done if she was at home. Not that she was really getting anything done now. Every so often she would stare at the screen in front of her. It had a picture of Nathan and Dan and the basic information the company had on them. The file hadn't changed since she'd opened it when she received the case.

She was supposed to be adding new information as it came to her, but she could never get herself to sit down and do it. She was like a teenager procrastinating on a long assignment. Sighing, she rubbed her hands over her face before dropping the pen in her hand to the surface of the desk. She knew that in the next few days she wasn't going to be able to get anything done.

She never could this time of year.

Christmas time was supposed to be the best time of the year and she always told people it was her favorite. But anyone who knew her, knew it was a lie. How could she love this time of year? All it did was remind her of her parent's murder.

Haley knew that Jake and Andrew would try to distract her with work or even with some great news that always seemed to happen this time of year, but nothing really helped. Once the season was past, she would work, but until then, nothing. It wasn't that she didn't try; she just couldn't get her mind to focus.

She leaned back in her chair and stared out the window behind her. Snow was falling down heavily now coating Chicago in dust. It looked beautiful, but she couldn't really take in the sight.

There was a knock on her door and she turned her attention to it as it opened. She watched Jared walk in and smile at her before walking closer to her desk. He looked just as handsome as ever dressed in a nice pair of black pants, green shirt and black tie. He pulled the chair away from her desk and took a seat.

"Hey," she said before giving him the best smile she could.

"Hi," he replied before smiling back, the same smile that she'd fallen for all those years before. "How you doing?"

Haley sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I have so much work to do, I just can't seem to focus. My minds… kind of all over the place."

Jared knew well enough about her parents' murder and how it had effected Haley. He could see it in her eyes now. It was the same way she'd looked when he'd met her and they had started their training. Part of him just wished that he could make her happy and smile, because he hated seeing her like this. Haley would always have a special place in his heart and he couldn't stand to see her hurt.

"Well maybe I can get your mind off things," he said before bringing his hand over the top of her desk to take hers. "Wanna get dinner again tonight?"

Haley stared down at their hands and she couldn't help getting the feeling that she used to get because of him. But then another face appeared in her mind. Nathan's.

She pulled her hand away from his and folded her hands in her lap. "I don't think so. I'm sorry I have plans with Jake tonight," she said, quickly lying.

Jared couldn't help the look of disappointment that came over his face, but he quickly covered it up with a smile. "That's ok," he said, "I understand. Some other time maybe?"

"Sure," Haley said with a nod of her head.

Jared nodded and stood up before walking towards the door. He grabbed the handle before turning to look back at her. "Haley," he said and she looked up at him. "I know things are hard for you this time of year. If you ever need to talk or you just need someone to just… listen, I'm here."

"Thanks," she replied before watching him walk out the door and back into the hallway. When the door shut Haley shook her head before laying her head down on the desk. She might as well have gone home, she wasn't getting a thing done here.

* * *

_Haley sat on the floor in her room trying to finish wrapping all the Christmas presents laid out in front of her. Tomorrow night was Christmas Eve and most of their family would be over to celebrate the holiday. It was up to Haley to get most of the wrapping done while her parents worked on getting some of the food made for tomorrow._

_Adam was at their grandparents for the night. He was too antsy for presents and they thought having him stay there for the night might help get his mind off of it. _

_She could hear the sounds of Christmas music floating up the stairs to her room and she smiled at the sound. She knew that her parents were most likely dancing around the kitchen, not really getting the cooking done like they were supposed to be. They would be up early the next morning doing that. She laughed at the thought; her parents were more teenagers than she was._

_Once the presents were wrapped, most of them addressed to Adam, she stacked them in her hands and began to head towards the door. She descended the stairs and turned towards the tree, looking into the kitchen as she did so. She wasn't surprised to see her parents laughing and dancing around. They smiled at her before she turned to head back up the stairs choosing to let them share this private moment._

_When she reached the top of the stairs she heard the doorbell ring. "Got it," her dad called from the kitchen and Haley continued on towards her room. She grabbed the handle to her bedroom and was about to walk through the door when the sound of a gunshot startled her. Soon she heard the sounds of heavy footsteps coming through the house towards the kitchen. _

_Haley hurried into her room and shut the light off before dropping to the ground and crawling under the bed. She could make out the sounds of a struggle from downstairs but she felt like she couldn't move. Her hand covered her mouth to keep her from screaming or making any sound. It wasn't long before another gunshot sounded. Her hand tightened over her mouth and tears streamed out of her eyes._

_The sounds of the same heavy footsteps were heard again and then she heard the front door slam. She waited a few minutes before moving out from under her bed. She could feel herself breaking out in a nervous sweat. Her blood was pumping through her veins and she felt like she might throw up._

_On shaky legs she began to make her way down the stairs. Sobs fell from her lips as she saw her father lying in a pool of blood in front of the door. He'd been shot in the heart. One shot and he was dead. She dropped to her knees and grabbed her father's hand. "Dad!" she yelled, even though she knew she would get no response._

_Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement from over by the kitchen. She turned her head and saw her mother lying on her back, also in a pool of her own blood. The kitchen was in shambles, it was clear that her mom had put up a fight. Haley quickly got to her feet when she noticed her mother's hand still moving._

_Haley raced to her and dropped to the ground next to her. It appeared that there was only one gunshot wound, like her father, but this one had just missed her heart. "Mom," Haley said between sobs. _

_Lydia raised a weak hand towards her daughter and Haley took it in hers, not caring about the blood that was now on her. "Mom," she said again and Lydia gave her a weak smile._

"_Call Andrew," Lydia said in a broken voice. "He'll take care of you."_

_Haley shook her head. "No, you'll be ok! I'm gonna call the police and you're gonna be ok." More tears continued to fall from her eyes as she watched her mother shake her head._

"_I love you Haley. Tell Adam… Mommy and Daddy love him."_

_Haley watched as her mother released her last breath before closing her eyes for the final time. Another cry fell from Haley's mouth as she grabbed her mother's body pulling her into her arms. She kept crying out for, hoping for any sign of life, but it never came._

Haley would always be able to remember those moments, as if they were happening again. She remembered grabbing the phone off the counter and calling the police. The frantic tone in her voice traveled over the line as she told them to help her. After hanging up with them she did as her mother said and called Andrew.

She was hardly coherent by the time Andrew and the police showed up. She sat on the porch in the front of the house as the snow fell around her. Andrew hurried up to her before taking his jacket off and putting it around her shoulders, not caring about the blood and the snow that would now cover it.

Jake was behind him trying to get Haley to respond to anything, but she wouldn't. Jake helped her stand before taking her to the car where he helped her into the back. Andrew talked with the police while Haley sat in the back of their car, hardly moving or speaking.

It would be like that for months. Haley hardly ate, she could barely sleep and she had weekly appointments with a therapist. Her doctors prescribed her medicines to help her overcome Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and to help her sleep at night. But still she would hardly speak to anyone. Not to Jake or even Adam.

Eventually her grandparents filed for custody of Adam and he moved into a house in the suburbs of Chicago with them. By then, Haley had been living with Jake's family for months and seeing as how Andrew was her godfather, he thought it best to legally adopt her. Her grandparents didn't put up a fight, but they were adamant about Adam staying out of the city and as far away from the company as possible.

Soon after Haley learned the truth about her parent's and their occupations, she joined the company and began her training. That's when she met Jared. Jared was amazing, everything she wanted to be when it came to being an agent. Andrew had assigned him to train her and it wasn't long before she began to grow feelings for him.

How could she not? He was handsome; he stood around six feet three inches with dark hair and green eyes that almost had a hint of gray in them. His smile always made her heart race and he could make her laugh even when she was in the worst mood. His personality was better than most, she hardly ever saw him in a bad mood and she envied that about him. He was always able to give his best, even in the worst situation.

It wasn't long before his feelings for her began to change as well. By the time Haley turned 18 and became an official agent, she and Jared had been carrying on a secret relationship for months. It was mostly stolen kisses in empty hallways and occasional dinners out on the town or nights spent at his apartment. But they had to keep it a secret. Jared knew that Andrew wouldn't be too happy with him if he knew about his relationship with Haley. Haley was like a daughter to him.

A few months before Haley turned 19 Jared had been reassigned to a branch of the company in Washington D.C. He packed up his apartment and moved within 3 days of earning the promotion. He hardly even said goodbye to her. Haley felt like he might as well have ripped out her heart and stomped on it. She clearly didn't mean as much to him as he did to her.

She felt like in the years since she'd seen him, her feelings had changed. She knew they had in fact. Her heart raced every time she saw, or even thought of Nathan. But part of her still got that feeling she used to get when she saw Jared. He had been the first guy that she'd really fallen for. But it seemed like lately, Nathan was the only guy her mind seemed to travel to.

That lead her to another dilemma. She couldn't lie to herself and say that she had no feelings for Nathan. She obviously did, she had slept with him already. Haley wasn't the type to just sleep around. She'd only ever slept with one other guy in her life and that was after realizing how much she truly cared for him.

Clearly she had fallen for Nathan. He seemed to be constantly on her mind. Since their night together at his apartment she couldn't get him out of her head. Everything with him felt so right, the way he kissed her and the way he touched her. Even the way he held her in his sleep amazed her. Their bodies were so in sync, even while they slept. She'd never felt that before, not even with Jared.

But she had to stop herself from feeling this way. She had to remind herself that Nathan's life was coming to an end, and it was because of her. If she didn't end it, she knew Andrew would find someone else who could. She needed to end things and fast before she fell for him anymore. It would already be hard enough.

* * *

Nathan stood in the middle of Karen and Keith Scott's kitchen. They lived in a large house in a suburb just minutes outside of Chicago. They had moved there from Tree Hill just a year before, after the birth of Lucas and Brooke's daughter Angie. They decided they couldn't be away from their son and granddaughter.

The move had actually allowed for Nathan to grow closer to his uncle, someone that he began to admire more and more as he got to know him. He hated his father for filling his head with lies about Keith when he was a child. He used to think of him as a drunk and a bum, but everything his father had said was just out of spite.

Nathan realized now that Dan had always hated his older brother. Keith had everything that Dan ever wanted and he knew that that jealousy would never go away. Keith had the perfect family, his own successful business and he had Karen and Lucas and now his own daughter, Lily. Dan would always envy the way the pieces fell into place for him, while things seemed to fall apart for him.

Dan Scott was wealthy, he always had been. He took over the company when Royal Scott, his father passed away just years after Nathan and Lucas had been born. It didn't take Dan long to notice that it wasn't as prosperous if it was run out of Tree Hill, North Carolina. Soon many business trips were taken, all across the country. He began to bring on new agents, one of which was his brother-in-law Cooper Lee.

When Nathan grew older Dan was away from home more and more. When Nathan went to college at Duke, Dan moved him and his wife, Deb to Chicago for good. It wasn't long before Deb got fed up with the life she had with Dan and divorced him. By then, Nathan didn't know the details of his parent's messy break up, all he knew was that she hated the person the company had turned Dan into. He never wanted to become that person.

When he had been recruited, or rather forced into the company he had made a promise that this job wasn't going to turn him into his father. So far he'd made good on keeping that promise. Keith had helped a lot in that goal.

Keith showed Nathan what it meant to be a true man. He loved and took care of his family, even Nathan. Nathan was sure that Keith loved him more than Dan ever had. Dan only saw Nathan as property, Keith saw him as a son.

"How's work going?" Keith asked as he opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of beer. He set them down on the counter before popping the caps off them. He handed one of the icy cold bottles to Nathan before taking a swig of the beer himself.

Nathan sighed before shrugging his shoulders. "It's… I don't know. I mean my job is to kill people for a living," he said in a quieter tone, looking around to make sure Lily wasn't around to hear what he had said.

"Leave the company then," Keith said.

"I can't," Nathan replied before shaking his head. "You know Dan, he would probably kill me if I did."

Keith laughed, "you're only half joking on that."

Nathan laughed a little before taking a drink of the beer in his hand before placing the bottle on the counter. He crossed his arms over his chest. "I can't leave the company. Dan's holding too much over me, and he knows that. I can't just leave."

"What's he holding over you?"

"Well mom, for one. If I do what he says, if I stay in the company, he'll leave her alone. She's finally happy without him, she's doing her own thing and she doesn't need him to come back into her life and mess things up."

"You really think he'd do that if you left?"

"Of course he would. It's Dan."

Nathan thought back to what Cooper had said to him when he'd come to Duke. Being in the company meant protection for his family. Of course that meant that he could protect them from any enemies that he would make because of his career, but it also meant that he could protect them from his father. If he let his father control him and his life, then he might finally stay out of all their lives. If they were happy, that's all he wanted.

"You're a better man than I am," Keith said with a shake of his head. "I couldn't live having my brother as my boss… telling me what to do all the time. You're tough."

"I stay away from the office as much as possible," Nathan said, "I really don't see him too much."

"Keep it that way," Keith said with a shake of his head before looking back up at his nephew. "Oh speaking of people we don't see much of… Coop stopped by the shop the other day. I didn't know he was back in town."

"Yeah, I saw him a few days ago. He stopped by my building."

"Yeah he told me he'd seen you. He also said I should tell you the new girl you're seeing is no good… what's that about? Another one of Brooke's set ups?"

Nathan laughed and shook his head. "Not exactly. It's a long story…"

"Come on Nate, you know you can tell me anything."

Nathan sighed and ran his hand over the back of his neck. "This new case I've been assigned to… she's…" Nathan trailed off trying to think of the best way to explain this without it sounding too bad. "I may have slept with her."

Keith shook his head but couldn't stop the laugh that escaped his mouth. "You're dating your target?"

"No," Nathan replied, "I don't know. It's not that simple. She's more than just some girl, or even a case. I can't stop thinking about her."

"Look Nate," Keith started, "you know normally I'd tell you to go after her, make it work, tell her how you feel… all that sentimental crap. But I can't tell you that this time. You're right it's not simple. If you think Dan would be pissed if you tried to leave the company, imagine the hell you'd be in if he ever found out about this. You need to end this and end it soon. I'm sure this girls great… and she's probably hot, too. But you can't do this."

"I know that. I just don't know what to do. I may have gotten myself in too deep this time."

"You may have?" Keith asked, "end this Nathan. You don't have any other choice."

Nathan nodded but looked away from his uncle when he heard the front door opening. Karen walked into the house soon followed by 5 year old Lily Scott. She rounded the corner towards the kitchen and saw Nathan standing against the counter. A smile broke out on her face as soon as she saw him and she took off in a run towards her cousin.

"Nathan!" the little girl yelled excitedly.

Nathan smiled and swooped her up in his arms. "How's my best girl?" he asked with a smile on his face as he settled her in his arms.

"Good!" she replied before flashing him another toothless smile. "Daddy bought me two new Barbies last week, wanna see them?"

"You know I do," Nathan replied before placing her back on the ground. She grabbed him by the hand and began to pull him towards her play room. On the way they passed Karen as she made her way into the kitchen. "Hey Karen," Nathan said before placing a kiss on her cheek. She smiled back at him and watched him go with her daughter to look at her new Barbies.

Karen walked further into the kitchen and kissed her husband on the lips before settling into his arms. Soon they could hear Nathan and Lily's voices as they played in the play room. The sounds of Lily's laughter was now loud and constant and Karen couldn't help but smile.

"I wish Nathan would find a girl. He would be such an amazing father."

"He's still young Karen, he'll find the right girl."

Keith just hoped that Nathan would realize that that girl wasn't going to be the one from this case. Not if Nathan knew what was good for him.

* * *

Haley tossed and turned in her bed. It was impossible to find a comfortable position and she kept getting too hot in her apartment for comfort. Eventually she threw the blankets off her body and got out of bed. She turned on the light in her room and rummaged through her drawers. She pulled out a black pair of sweats and threw them on over the black boy shorts she wore. She slipped on a pair of gray boots and a sweatshirt over her pink sports bra.

She didn't bother to grab her phone before walking out into the front room. Lyla was asleep on the rug in the kitchen next to the humming dishwasher. Haley grabbed her purse off the counter and opened the door. Soon she was in the elevator and down in the lobby. She walked through the glass doors out the sidewalk.

It was cold and late and she was surprised that there were any cabs out at all right then. She waved her hand and when she finally got one to stop she told them the address and they drove off towards her destination.

After a few minutes the cab pulled up in front of the apartment complex and Haley paid the driver with the money she had in her purse. She stepped back out into the cold December air and hurried towards the door as someone walked out, grabbing the glass door before it could shut an lock. Once inside she made her way towards the elevator and pushed the up button.

In no time she was on the 12th floor and walking down the hall towards the familiar apartment. She stopped in front of the door and tried to get her thoughts together. That's when it occurred to her, she didn't know what she was doing there. What was she going to say when he asked her why she was there? She really didn't know what had possessed her to come there.

Shaking her head she brought her hand up to knock on the door. After doing so she waited for an answer. It was late, he was probably tired. Maybe he wouldn't have even heard the knock at all. She was about to turn around to head back for the elevator when the door suddenly opened and Nathan stood on the other side. He was dressed in a pair of black sweats and a gray wife beater and he looked tired and disoriented. Clearly she'd woken him up.

"Hi," she said quietly, "I'm sorry to just show up like this. I woke you-"

"It's ok," he said quickly, "come on in."

He moved out of the way and motioned for her to come inside. When she did Nathan turned on the hallway light and walked over to the couch. He watched as Haley finally made her way over to join him. When she sat down on the other end of the couch he could tell by the look on her face that there was something heavy on her mind.

"What are you doing here Haley?" he asked after a minute. "Not that I don't want to see you."

"I, uh," she started, "I don't know. I couldn't sleep and my mind was wandering and I just… somehow ended up here. I'm sorry I shouldn't have come."

She stood up suddenly and looked towards the door, but Nathan was up just as fast. He grabbed her by the arm and she jumped at the sudden contact. "I'm sorry," Nathan said, "I just… don't leave."

"I don't even know what I'm doing here. I wanted to see you I guess." She sat down on the couch again and Nathan took a seat close to her.

Nathan smirked, "I can't complain about hearing that."

Haley laughed and shook her head. "Are you always cocky or does that just happen when I'm around?"

"I'm not cocky," Nathan said with shrug, "I'm just…" he trailed off trying to think of the right words to say.

"You're what?" she prompted with a slight smile gracing her face.

"I don't know," he replied with a laugh. He looked at her face again and saw another smile gracing her lips and he couldn't help himself but to lean in and place a kiss on her lips. Soon her lips began to respond to his.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his body closer to hers. His hands traveled to her sides and he lifted her body before laying her flat on the couch. His body covered hers and he continued to place kisses on her lips. When he finally pulled away his eyes studied her face and he saw that she now looked peaceful. But she also looked exhausted.

"You look tired."

Haley's eye met his and she smiled slightly. "I am."

He leaned down and placed another kiss on her lips before standing up. He reached a hand out to her and she took it before walking with him down the hall and towards his bedroom. When they reached his room he motioned for her to get in the bed. When she did he crawled in beside her and wrapped his arms around her.

Haley felt him place a kiss on her head and before she knew it her eyes fell closed and sleep took over her. That was the first night she'd been able to fall asleep peacefully within in the last two weeks.

**Please review! ps I'm so sorry it took so long to get this up! FF was being stupid soooo that's why it took forever to post. I'm really sorry! Also I suggest listening to the song Marilyn by G Eazy as it was the inspiration for this chapter**


	12. Infinity

**Disclaimer: I don't own One Tree Hill or its characters**

**Sorry for the wait ya'll! I'm so so sorry I've been so busy. But I'm gonna have a lot of time on my hands so hopefully my creative juices will start flowing**

**Chapter 12: Infinity**

If there was one thing that Haley James didn't enjoy, it was shopping. It had never been and she was sure it would never be her favorite pastime. Department stores always had such harsh lighting that could make even the prettiest woman look like a monster when she looked at herself in the mirror. And most items were so ridiculously overpriced that it made her gag.

Another thing she hated was taking the various articles of clothing into the dressing rooms. It wasn't that she hated trying on clothes because she was self-conscious about her body or anything like that. She would admit that because of her career she was kept physically fit. But, she couldn't help but feel that she looked awkward when she tried on anything but yoga pants, jeans and a t-shirt. Dresses and fancy clothes just didn't fit her.

She had wandered into this store by chance. She was amazed that she actually had time to do things like shop or even have a party for her birthday. When Jake told her that he was planning something for her she had immediately told him to cancel it. However, when word spread to Andrew he insisted that Haley take a night to celebrate her birthday. She tried to convince him that it wasn't necessary, but he told her he wanted her to feel normal for a change.

Something about that comment had struck Haley. She, too, wanted to feel normal for a change. The last time she'd celebrated her birthday with her friends was before her parent's death. Ever since then she'd chosen to celebrate alone. She really didn't like to think about her birthday. It was too close to the anniversary of her parent's murder.

Now as Haley looked through racks of dresses in _Clothes Over Bros_, she couldn't help but think that maybe this store wasn't too bad. The dresses were impressive, and they weren't overpriced. But she wasn't sure she could picture herself if any of them.

"Can I help you find something?"

Haley turned when she heard the voice from next to her. She saw a brunette, around her age it seemed standing just a few feet away from her. She was wearing a red oversized sweater dress with a pair of gray boots and a black scarf. Her dark shoulder length hair was slightly curled and her makeup was smoky. Haley could tell that being beautiful came naturally to this girl.

"Uh," Haley replied, "I'm looking for something to wear to my birthday party."

"Well I can definitely help you with that."

Haley watched as she began to look through the racks of clothes she had previously been looking through. She wasn't sure that she would find anything in there that would look good on her. She had just looked and she hadn't come across anything that really seemed like her. But then again, she wasn't exactly a fashion expert.

Haley looked at the girl again when she turned towards her, this time with a dress in her hand. It was an emerald green halter dress. "This would look great on you!" she gushed before holding the dress up to Haley. "Go try it on!"

Haley took the dress from her hand and started to walk towards the dressing room. "Thanks," she said before stepping inside the room.

"No problem," she replied and then added, "and my names Brooke by the way. Just let me know if you need any help."

After having changed into the dress, Haley stared at her reflection in the mirror. She was surprised by how well the dress fit. It showed off her curves in all the right places and she actually felt pretty in it. Pulling the curtain back from the dressing room she stepped outside and Brooke smiled when she saw her.

"I knew that would look great!" Brooke said.

"Yeah," Haley replied while looking down at herself. "I think I'll take it."

* * *

Nathan sat at the desk in his office going over case files. He wanted to just leave but he couldn't. His dad had been up his ass about Haley and if he wasn't at the office he was getting constant phone calls from his dad. He wanted to just shut his phone off but if he did that then there was the chance he would show up at his apartment. Or send Cooper.

His conversation with Cooper outside his building wasn't exactly cordial. He'd always been close with Cooper, he thought of him as more of a brother than an uncle. But it seemed like ever since Nathan had joined the company, Cooper was no longer his friend. And something about his conversation with him the other day kept ringing in his head.

Nathan had never really known much about Cooper and his job with the company. He was very secretive and Nathan never really felt the need to go snooping around in his files. It had never really been of any interest to him. But the more he thought about what Cooper had said to him, that he knew more about the situation Nathan was in, the more interest Nathan had.

He sat at his desk staring at the computer screen reading over case files, but not his case files. After having typed his uncle's name into the database he came up with all the cases that Cooper had ever been linked to. There didn't seem to be anything out of the ordinary when he looked at his more recent jobs.

They were mostly drug related cases that Dan had assigned him to. But the farther in he looked the more interested he got. He came across a case involving a man who worked under the Prime Minister in England. His name was Anthony Hardin and the government had called in Dan Scott to do something about him. They had found out that he'd not only been helping smuggle drugs in but he was behind a string of murders that had been happening throughout London.

It was a big case and Cooper had been assigned to it shortly after being recruited to the company. It wasn't anything too out of the ordinary; they dealt with cases similar to this all the time. But Nathan learned that Hardin had a daughter. She was around the same age as Cooper and Nathan read that she was a big part of this case. But she'd been killed shortly before the case ended.

He was trying to read more information about the case, doing any research he could to try and figure out more about this girl that kept popping up in all the files. So far he wasn't finding anything.

"Got a sec?"

Nathan looked up quickly from the computer screen when he heard Peyton's voice from by the door. She had her arms crossed over her chest and she was leaning against the door pane.

"Yeah," Nathan replied, "come on in."

Peyton crossed over the room to the chair located on the other side of his desk. She pulled it out before taking a seat. "I've been keeping tabs on Jake Jagelski. He booked a club for your girlfriend's birthday party tomorrow night."

"She's not my girlfriend," Nathan replied, but even he knew he was lying. "Anyways, what about it?"

"Well are you going?"

"I'm not so sure that's a smart idea," Nathan said while leaning back in his chair. Going to a party that was bound to be full of people from Andrew Jagelski's company didn't exactly sound like the smartest plan.

"Okay," Peyton said with a laugh, "because dating your target was a smart idea?"

Nathan shook his head. "We're not dating."

"I don't know why you always do this. You get close to the ones that you have to kill and it always ends badly for you. You do nothing but end up hurting yourself. I'm just thinking that it might be in your best interest if you… killed her now?"

Nathan couldn't help the tension that ran through his muscles as she suggested killing Haley. The image of her dead body suddenly appeared in his mind and he shook his head to try and get it out of his head. He hated himself for feeling this way, he hated her for making him weak but at the same time, he couldn't hate her. And he was beginning to think maybe he couldn't kill her.

"Excuse me?" Peyton said trying to grab his attention again. "Are you listening to me?"

"Yes," Nathan replied, "I heard you."

"So then maybe you'll actually listen to my advice for once. End it Nathan. You have to kill her and you have to kill her soon. The fact that you haven't already… it makes you look weak Nathan."

"I'm not weak," Nathan said shortly. He hated when people thought of him as weak.

"Then kill her."

Peyton stood up without another word and walked out of his office. Nathan could feel his heart pounding in his chest and the blood pumping through his veins. He felt like he couldn't breathe. The idea of killing Haley was killing him. But the thought that if he didn't do, his father would find someone else who would kept creeping into his head. And that, he couldn't live with.

* * *

Sam sat at the kitchen counter staring down at her AP Language assignment. It was hard to remember that she was still a teenager now that she'd officially started her training. Part of her wanted to just completely blow off high school and just focus on the company. But then there were times when she wished that she could just be a normal high school student.

She was beginning to see less and less of her best friend, Jack. It was hard for her to lie to him all the time, but it wasn't exactly like she could tell him the truth about why she was always so busy. What would she say? "Yeah I'm learning how to kill people, so rain check on the movies this weekend?" Not exactly.

She looked away from her assignment when she heard her phone vibrate against the counter. She checked her new text from Haley and read that they would be training again tomorrow morning. This time they would start practicing hand to hand combat. She was a little nervous about that. She had faith that Haley would teach her everything she needed to know, but she was still nervous. She was never exactly a violent person and fighting wasn't really her thing. But neither was shooting a gun and becoming an assassin, but here she was.

She heard footsteps coming into the kitchen and instead of her mom and dad like she had expected, she saw her older brother. "Hey," she said with a smile on her face. "What are you doing here? I didn't even hear you come in."

"Well you better start being a little more attentive. Who knows who could be sneaking in here?"

"Oh god," Sam said with a laugh, "you don't have to start with that."

"I'm just saying, you should be a little safer."

"Jared, I'm safe. What did you come in through the garage after you punched the code in? It's not exactly like you used your master skills to break in."

"Well, someone could…" Jared said, "I'm just looking out for my little sister."

"Well I appreciate it," she said with a smile, "but again what are you doing here?"

Jared leaned against the counter and shrugged his shoulders. "I thought I might come see how my favorite sister is doing. I mean I'm allowed to do that aren't I?"

"Well yeah," she replied with a slight smile, "but I figured you wanted something too. And… does it by chance have something to do with Haley?"

Jared was taken aback by her mention of Haley. As far as he knew, no one knew anything about his relationship with Haley. They had tried very hard to keep it a secret and he was sure that Haley hadn't told anyone in the time that he'd left. He hadn't told anyone. So why would Sam assume it had something to do with Haley?

"What?" Jared asked.

"Well I mean you guys went to dinner when you came back and I saw you come out of her office the other day. And I know you trained her when she joined the company and she's training me now… I assumed you guys were friends. I'm kind of a big tie between you."

"We're friends, but that's it."

Sam crossed her arms over her chest and continued to stare at her brother. She could tell by the tone in his voice and the far off look in his eyes that there was something going on in his head. "You like her don't you?"

"Sam."

"You do! You love her, you wanna marry her, you think she's pretty," Sam teased. She loved evoking an embarrassed reaction from her brother. Jared was normally so cool and collected but she could tell that he was actually embarrassed by her harassing him about having a crush on Haley. And he would only react this way if it were true.

"Haley and I go way back. We're good friends and I'm always gonna care about her, but we're just friends and that's all. Sorry to burst your bubble."

"Oh, but you'd be so perfect together!"

"Well I don't think she agrees with you on that."

"Change her mind! And I'll talk you up if you want."

"I'm not in middle school Sam. I don't need you to ask her if she likes me. I think I'm past that."

Ever since he'd come back to Chicago his feelings for Haley had rushed back to him. It was hard to ignore the fact that she'd only become more beautiful since he'd last seen her. His heart raced in his chest every time he saw her and he wished that he could kiss her again. He'd dated a few girls while he was in Washington; nothing serious ever. None of them could compare to the girl he'd left behind.

"Well I'm just trying to help."

"How… how is she? She always kind of gets depressed this time of year, cuz of her parents. I just wanna know that she's ok. So is she?"

"She's not the way she normally is. She's normally so happy and outgoing ya know? You can tell she's… sad."

A few seconds of silence passed between them before Sam spoke up again. "You know her birthday's tomorrow right?"

Jared nodded. He wouldn't have forgotten her birthday. In the years since he left he always wanted to call her to wish her a happy birthday, but he never did. It would bring back to many feelings if he'd heard her voice on the phone. But he was here this time. Even though she seemed uninterested in him when he'd talked to her in her office, maybe he could get her to change her mind now.

"She's having a party tomorrow night. Well actually Jake's having a party for her, but basically the whole company's invited."

"Yeah I heard about it."

"Are you going?" she asked out of sheer curiosity.

"Yeah I think so," he said and then suddenly something occurred to him. "But you're not. It's at a club and you're only 18."

"Oh come on like I can't get my hands on a fake id?" she said with a slight smirk. "I'll be there."

"Absolutely not. Not unless you want me to tell mom and dad."

Sam scoffed and gave him a look that could kill. "You're gonna tell mom and dad on me? I thought you said you weren't in middle school anymore."

"Sam, you're not going."

"You ruin all the fun."

* * *

Haley walked into the club that Jake had booked for her birthday. It was aptly named _Spy Bar_. Jake thought he was so clever. She shook her head as she made her way through the doors and through the throngs of people. She was amazed at how many people that came out to the party. She saw some people wave at her that she recognized from high school. Jake had either really pulled out the stops for this to be a huge party, or he'd realized she didn't really have that many friends.

She walked past the main bar that was lit up in blue lights and through the crowd of people on the dance floor. There was a smaller room to her right called The Spy Room where Jake had told her to meet her. She walked into the smaller more intimate room and saw Jake sitting on the plush bench with a drink in his hand. He smiled when he saw her and put the drink down on the table in front of him before standing up quickly. When he reached her he grabbed her in his arms in a hug and lifted her off the ground.

"Happy birthday beautiful!" he yelled over the loud noises before placing a kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks Jacob," she said with a warm smile. She only called him Jacob on rare occasions and he hoped that it wasn't because she was mad at him.

"Do you like your party?" he asked nervously.

"I do. But you really didn't have to do all this. There's a lot of people here; even people from high school. Why did you invite them?"

"You know how popular you were in high school. A lot of these people think you dropped off the face of the earth and I thought it might be nice for you to see some of your old friends."

"Well thanks Jakey."

She really did appreciate all the work he'd put in to her party. He didn't have to do all the things that he did for her but he did them anyway. That's what made him her best friend in the whole world.

He kept his arm around her waist as he led her over to the table. That was when she saw Nikki sitting at the table with a drink in her hand. She also couldn't help but notice the large diamond on her left ring finger. Haley stopped in her tracks and turned to stare at Jake. She could see him avoiding her gaze and she shook her head as she went to take a seat.

Nikki looked up at her and sent her a tight lipped smile. "Happy birthday," she said unenthusiastically.

"Thanks," Haley replied before turning her head away from her. She couldn't believe that Jake had asked her to marry him. When she asked him to think about it before he did it, she figured he would think about it a little longer. Clearly he'd made up his mind and asking her to marry him was what he wanted to do. Even though it was the worst thing he could have ever done. And she couldn't believe he'd invited her to her party. Poor judgment on his part.

It wasn't long before she had a drink in her hand and numerous people were coming up to her to wish her a happy birthday. Finally a face she actually knew came up to her. Jared.

"Hey," he said with a smile and she stood up to give him a hug. "Happy birthday!"

"Thank you!" she replied while still in his arms. She wondered how long he was going to hold her. Finally she pulled away and smiled at him again, "thanks for coming."

"I wouldn't miss it. I've missed too many of your birthdays already."

An awkward air filled in around them and Haley cleared her throat. A few months ago this was exactly what she would have wanted to hear. She would have wanted to know that he'd missed her while he was away and that he wasn't over her. But right now… she wasn't sure that's what she needed to hear from him anymore.

"Would you…" he began and then laughed a little nervously. "Dance with me?"

"Oh," she replied before looking out on the crowded dance floor. "I'd love to."

One dance wouldn't hurt and did want them to at least be friends and she was going have to get past the awkwardness. He took her hand and led her to the dance floor. When he reached for her she couldn't help but feel strange. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck while they began to dance to the slow song that was playing in the club.

She wanted to get past things being weird between them, but the way he was staring at her wasn't helping. "What?" she asked.

"You're still really beautiful."

She cleared her throat and let out a small laugh. "Well thank you."

"I feel like I didn't tell you that enough when I had you."

"Jared, we shouldn't start that again."

"Just listen for a second Hales," he said and she looked up to meet his eyes.

"I shouldn't have just left you the way that I did. It wasn't fair to either of us and especially to you. But I want you to know that I didn't leave you because I stopped caring for you. It was just something I had to do."

"I know. It was a big deal for you to get that job in Washington. You don't have to explain yourself."

"I just want you to know that I thought about you a lot while I was away."

This was too much. She didn't want to have this conversation with him, not here. She couldn't handle this right now.

"Jared, I-"

She began to speak but was quickly distracted when she saw Nathan standing near the door of the bar. He was dressed in a pair of black dress pants and a gray button up. She suddenly felt like she couldn't breathe. What the hell was he doing here? He was walking into a war zone and he didn't even know it.

Jared turned his head to see where she was staring and that's when he saw the man from the restaurant. He then remembered that he was Haley's new case. "What's he doing here?" Jared bit out and Haley could hear the somewhat angry tone in his voice.

"I don't know," she said before letting go of Jared. She started to walk towards the door when Jared grabbed her by the arm.

"Haley you don't have to go over there. I can just end this thing now."

"No," Haley replied harshly. She suddenly realized the tone she'd taken with him and shook her head. "He's my case. I'll handle it my way."

She pulled her arm out of his grip and walked towards Nathan. She could tell by the look on his face that he'd seen her with Jared. He didn't look mad, but he did look hurt. "Nathan," she said when she reached him, "what are you doing here? How did you even know about this?"

"My friend Peyton does promotion stuff for clubs and she told me that your friend booked the club for your birthday. Why didn't you tell me that your birthday was coming up?"

"I really don't like to make big deal of my birthday, but Jake planned all this. I didn't mean to just not tell you about it."

"It's not a big deal," Nathan replied with a shrug of his shoulders. She watched as his eyes scanned over the crowd before landing on one spot. She turned to where he was looking and saw Jared still standing on the dance floor, watching them. "Don't let me steal you away from your boyfriend."

"No," she said, "Jared's not my boyfriend. I told you that."

"Yeah," he said with a nod. "But you also said I'm not your boyfriend, so you're free to do whatever you want. Go back with him. I might just take off, I just wanted to tell you happy birthday."

"Don't leave," she said quickly. She knew that having him stay was the worst decision she could have ever made. He was in so much danger with the whole company being in the same room as them. They all knew about this case and the danger he posed. But she didn't care; all she knew was that she wanted him there. He was who she wanted to spend her birthday with. "I want you to stay. Please?"

Nathan sent her a small crooked smile, a smile that she was starting to fall in love with. "If you really want me to."

She grabbed him by the hand and walked with him out to the dance floor. Some sort of techno song was playing through the loud speakers. It had a slow tempo and Haley was surprised that she actually liked it. She liked being in this club, she liked being with Nathan. She didn't want to think about anything else.

Nathan's hands soon landed on her hips and he was helping her move to the beat of the music. Her body pressed against his and he knew there was no better feeling and nothing would ever feel so right. He didn't care that he was surrounded by Andrew Jagelski's company and that all of them had been trained to kill him at any moment. He didn't care that that Jared guy was standing just a few feet away from him looking like Nathan had just run over his dog. He didn't care that Jake Jagelski was shooting daggers from his eyes at him. All he cared about was Haley.

He leaned down so his mouth was right by her ear. "You look so amazing Haley. Every guy in here is staring at you. But you're all mine for the night."

She could feel the blush painting her skin at his words. Something about what he'd said caused fear to bubble up in her, but then another part of her was excited. Only Nathan could ever make her feel the way she did.

Her gaze met his dark eyes and she watched as he subconsciously licked his lips before leaning down to kiss her on the lips. She could feel her whole body tense up and sparks shoot out from their lips as they kissed. She'd never been kissed the way that Nathan kissed her. When their lips parted Nathan smirked again. "I know I just got here and that it's your party but… is there any chance you'd wanna leave with me?"

"Absolutely."

* * *

Bringing him to her apartment probably wasn't the best idea. She had promised herself that he would never find out where she lived, but here they were. But it didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was alone with him. That's what she'd wanted from the second she saw him walk into the club.

The second the door shut she turned around and was face to face with Nathan. He sent her another genuine smile and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest and her breathing becoming shallower. He took another step towards her and his hands grabbed hers before he pressed another kiss to her lips. Her lips parted and he slipped his tongue into her mouth.

She pressed her body into his as much as possible and it still didn't feel close enough. Finally his arms wrapped around her waist and their lips parted. "I want you," he whispered.

"You have me."

She walked past him towards her room and turned around and motioned for him to follow her. He soon caught up to her and walked with her into her bedroom. He took a few seconds to take in the way it was decorated. Red, black and white. Pictures of her friends and family. Black and white pictures of the city. It was all so her.

She grabbed him by the hand and pulled him over to her bed. When he reached the edge she lightly pushed him in the chest so he was sitting down. She stepped out of the tall black pumps she was wearing and moved closer to him. When she was within reach Nathan pulled her to his lap and attached their lips again. Every kiss from him left her breathless.

She pulled away from him again and stood so she was again in front of him. Her hand reached behind her back and she grasped the zipper of her dress before slowly pulling it down. She then reached for the button that held the halter together. When it was popped open she let the dress fall to the ground around her leaving her in just her strapless lacy red bra and underwear.

Nathan's eyes roamed all over her body, taking in the sight of her in front of him. He watched her walk towards him and begin to unbutton the buttons on his shirt. Soon she was making work on his belt. He wasn't sure what took over him but her suddenly stood up and grabbed her by the hips before laying her down on the bed. He pressed kisses to her neck and down between the valley of her breasts. He continued his series of kisses down her stomach to the hem of her underwear.

He looked up at her as he hooked his thumbs through the sides before pulling them down her legs and dropping them on the floor. Haley sat up and grabbed at the waistband of his black boxer briefs. She pulled them down and let them pool around his ankles before reaching behind her back to unclasp her bra. When it dropped Nathan pushed her so she was lying flat on the bed.

She motioned to the top drawer of her dresser and Nathan pulled it open before retrieving a condom from the full box. "I have them… just in case."

He smiled before tearing open the foil package and grabbing the condom rom the wrapper. Before he could slide it on, Haley took it from his hands and rolled it down his thick erection. She took the opportunity let her fingers slide over him a bit and she watched as he bit down on his bottom lip.

Haley moved back on the bed but Nathan grabbed under her knees and pulled her to the edge of the bed. He spread her legs before leaning down and kissing her neck again. Soon he entered her with a deep thrust causing her let out a pleasured gasp. She threw her head back as he entered her slow and deep hitting all the right spots as he did so.

Her hands wrapped around to his lower back where she dug her nails into his skin and moaned. "You feel so good," she said before biting her lip to keep from screaming, but she couldn't help it. Nathan made her feel better than she ever had and she couldn't seem to contain herself when she was with him.

The motion of his thrusting pushed her back across the bed, bringing him with her. She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him in for another kiss. She mustered up her strength and flipped them over so she was now on top of him. Nathan's eyes screwed shut as Haley sat up and moved above him. She rolled her hips against his and he couldn't help the raspy groans that left his mouth. He'd never felt so good before.

He could feel her contracting around him and he couldn't stop his hips from thrusting up into her. He sat up so her body was flush against his and he grabbed her hips slammed her down on him causing the sexiest moans to fall from her lips. He didn't want to take his eyes off her face but the pleasure was too much and he couldn't keep his eyes open. He could feel his release coming to him already.

"Haley…I can't…"

"I'm so close," she moaned.

Nathan layed back against the bed and Haley placed her hands on his chest while she continued to move on him. Haley threw her head back again as her climax hit. His name fell from her lips over and over again as she rode out her orgasm and Nathan's soon followed.

She collapsed against his chest and Nathan swept all her hair over one shoulder before placing a kiss on her skin. When their breathing returned to normal she sat up a bit and smiled down at him before kissing his lips for what had to have been the thousandth time that night.

Nathan smirked, "I'm not done with you yet."

**Please review(:**

**Also the songs for this chapter A Reach For Glory- Blackmill and Infinity- The XX**


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